


Stay

by onceuponakingston



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-17
Updated: 2015-10-11
Packaged: 2018-04-21 06:51:48
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 16
Words: 24,374
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4819382
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/onceuponakingston/pseuds/onceuponakingston
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Between the arrival of her baby brother and returning from the Enchanted Forest with Hook, Emma Swan feels the need to run. She wants to leave Henry and her family behind and live a normal life with no magic and no job as the Savior. With 20 days to change her mind, Regina tries everything to get the blonde to stay. Can she achieve her goal? Will Emma stay?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

It had been two weeks since the naming ceremony for Snow and Charming's baby at Granny's, and since she had been home from the Enchanted Forest with Hook, Emma was having trouble sleeping. Her brother, Neal, was keeping her parents up, and well she didn't get a peaceful night's sleep either. She found that a bottle of rum and the quietness of the park helped, even at 1am.

Looking over the pond, the moon shined brightly in it's reflection. The stars crowed the sky. And there it was...a shooting star.

"Make a wish, Miss Swan," a voice said from behind her.

"Regina?!"

"Well, who else would it be?" she questioned as she sat next to Emma on the grass, "now make a wish before I make one for you."

 _'I wish I was able to have a decent night's sleep,'_  Emma thought.

"What did you wish for?" Regina asked.

Emma shoved Regina gently with her shoulder, "If I tell you then it won't come true, idiot," she laughed.

"Did you just call me an idiot, Miss Swan?"

"Well..." Emma smirked, "want some rum?"

Regina shot Emma a look, but took the bottle anyway. She took a swig and grimaced, the look on her face made Emma laugh.

"So what are you doing out here at this time?" Emma asked, "where is Henry?

"I like to take strolls sometimes, fresh air makes me sleepy. And he is back at the mansion?"

"On his own?!"

"There is a protection spell around the house... do you really think I would leave my,  _our_  son on his own?"

Emma considered it for a split moment before remember how far Regina had come along the past few months. She had gone from wanting to kill her and her parents to accepting that they were connected by the one person that mattered... Henry.

"So what's keeping you awake?" the brunette asked.

"Neal," Emma said bluntly.

Emma took the bottle from Regina's grasp and swallowed some of the liquid before explainging to the Mayor how it was impossible not to be woken in the small apartment by a crying child. She stared out into the darkness, the silence was deafening.

"You realise you can stay at my house whenever you want to," Regina stated, "Henry would love it, and I'm sure you'd love some peace and quiet along with a good night's sleep."

"I'm not sure that's a good idea, Madame Mayor," Emma said keeping her eyes on the pond.

"I have far too many rooms in my house, most of which have never been used. It wouldn't bother me the slightest."

"Yes, okay, but only for tonight."

* * *

 

Back at Regina's house, Emma couldn't believe how quiet it was. She hadn't know quietness like this since her brother had been born.

"Thank you, Regina," she smiled.

"It's okay, help yourself to anything in the kitchen," she smiled.

Emma laughed, "The last time I ate something you made Henry nearly died."

"We are both aware I am both past trying to harm you," she laughed, "and your parents."

"You got rum?" Emma asked.

"Apple cider any good?"

Emma nodded and Regina lead the way into the living room, and Emma sat on the luscious sofa. There was a small table in the corner was various bottles, some full and some with contents missing. She got two glasses from the shelf above the table and poured apple cider into each until the glasses were half full.

"There you go," Regina said as she sat on the other side of the sofa.

"Thanks," Emma smiled. She took a sip of the cider, since being in Storybrooke this was only the third time she had tasted Regina's cider and everytime she remembered how good it was.

"To Henry," Regina said holding up her glass a little.

"To Henry," Emma said copying Regina.

"Hey mom," Henry said sleepily, "what are you doing here?"

"Well..." Regina and Emma said at the same time.

"Sorry, you go first," Regina said.

"Your mom found me wandering the street, I couldn't sleep so she offered me a bed here."

"Go back to bed, Henry," Regina smiled, "your mom will still be here in the morning."

"Can we have breakfast at Granny's?" he asked.

"Whatever you want, kid," Emma said, "just don't let your mom steal my food," she added as she looked at Regina.

"Oh, shut up, Miss Swan," Regina said softly.

Henry left his moms in the living room and headed back to his room to go back to sleep, it was 2am after all.

"What are you thinking about, Swan?" Regina asked after seeing the concentration on Emma's face.

"Nothing," she lied, "just tired."

Silenced filled the room as neither one of them knew what to say, the looked at each other a few times and smiled, but other than that the walls were the most fascinating thing in the room. Regina eventually created a fireball and threw it at the fireplace creating an instant warm glow in the room.

"See, perks of having magic," she laughed, "you can be lazy."

"Can I use your loo?" Emma asked.

Showing Emma to the downstairs bathroom, Regina couldn't help but remind herself about her feelings, she once hated the blonde but because of Henry she had grown to find her tolerable, for her son at least.

"Thanks," Emma said before heading into the bathroom.

Closing the door behind her, Emma stared into the mirror. Her reflection was something she was not expecting, black bags under her eyes and red eyes from the lack of sleep, he hair was flat as a pancake...honestly she looked like she should have been on her deathbed. She splashed some water on her face hoping that it would make her look and feel better.

The blonde flushed the toilet to make it seem like she hadn't just stood in the bathroom doing nothing. She took one last look at her horrid reflection before heading back to the living room. Upon returning, she saw that the brunette had changed from her stylish mayoral clothes and into her dark blue silk pajamas complete with a floor length robe. She sat in the same spot with a fresh glass of cider.

"I'm going to head out," the blonde said.

"You're staying here, remember," the brunette said as she studied Emma's face. "I'll show you to your room," she added when she saw the brief flash of realization on the blondes face.

Regina gestured for Emma to follow her up the stairs and she showed her to one of the many unused guest rooms she had. There was a double bed at the corner of the room with a bed-side table and a lamp and a wardrobe on the opposite wall.

"I hope you'll be comfortable," Regina smiled. "Goodnight, Miss Swan."

"Goodnight, Regina, and thank you."


	2. Chapter 2

Emma awoke the next day in a haze as to what happened the previous night, all she knew was that her head hurt. She rolled over onto her back and stared up at the unknown ceiling trying to make sense of what had happened last night, all she could remember was sitting at the park and that she had probably had too much rum.

A quiet knock on the door brought Emma's attention to the door, "come in," she said quietly as she propped herself up on her elbows.

"Good morning, Miss Swan," Regina said quietly.

"Oh, Regina," Emma said,. "Good morning."

"How are you feeling?" the brunette said as she lingered in the doorway, "did you want some water or aspirin or something to eat?"

"One question," Emma said. "What time is it?"

"Well woke up 5 minutes ago and it was half past six," Regina smiled.

"It's half six... in the morning?"

"Well I'm not one for sleeping all day," Regina stated.

Emma fell back onto the bed mumbling something how early it was and how that no one on Earth should be awake at this time on a Saturday.

"Come on, I'll make you some coffee and breakfast."

Regina turned around to head downstairs and Emma wasn't far behind her. When the blonde found the kitchen, she was instantly met with the smell of fresh coffee.

"Please have a seat, Miss Swan."

"Call me, Emma," the blonde smiled, "I feel like a school teacher when you call me that."

"Fine,  _Emma_ , what can I get for you to eat?" the brunette asked with a smile.

"I'll just have coffee please, I don't feel like eating right now."

Regina turned to the coffee maker and poured the black liquid into two cups before handing one to the apprehensive blonde. She saw how the blonde was distancing herself and also the lack of sleep she had been getting.

"Sleep well?"

"Yeah," the blonde lied. "I think I'll head off now, thanks for the coffee."

Emma stood up from her chair at the worktop and pulled her jumper over her tank top before heading out the white front door. Before Emma could leave, Regina walked after her and told her that she was welcome to stay anytime she wanted.

Emma turned the key into her family's apartment and braced herself for noise and a screaming baby. Stepping into the apartment she noticed that no one was there which was unusual for her parents at 7:11am. No screaming baby, no mother and father. She was alone. Walking over to the coffee pot, she noticed a note that was addressed to her.

_Emma, we have gone to the park. See you later, love Mom and Dad._

The blonde poured herself a cup of coffee before walking to the bathroom with the mug in hand, she needed to shower after the previous night of drinking, the smell of the rum lingered on her clothes. After taking a much needed shower, the blonde put clean clothes on; blue jeans and a off-white sweater but as she headed back downstairs she noticed that her parents had returned with Neal.

"Good morning," Mary-Margaret chirped. "How are you feeling?"

"I... uh, I'm okay," Emma said unsure as to why her mother was in such a good mood.

"Can I make you something to eat or some coffee?"

"I'm fine thanks, I already ate," she lied as she sat at the table. "Get it over with. I know you're pissed with me."

"What are..." the short-haired woman began trying to act innocent, "okay, where the hell were you last night? I heard you leave when Neal woke up and you never came back and you never called. Me and your father were very worried about you, and..."

"I was at Regina's," Emma interrupted.

"Why the hell was you at her house?!"

"Because," Emma said.

"Because what?" the brunette replied. "What's so great about being under the Evil Queen's roof?!"

"It's quiet!" Emma said with a raised voice, "I can actually sleep there without being woken up every hour!"

"Well why don't you stay there then!" she argued back.

Emma stood up and grabbed her red leather jacket, "fine!" she said before she slammed the apartment door.

"What was all that about?" David said as walked into the kitchen-living room with Neal in his arms.

"I think I accidentally threw Emma out of the apartment," the brunette said.


	3. Chapter 3

After storming out the apartment, Emma sat in her yellow Bug. It was only 8 am and she knew that Henry would be getting up soon for school, so she started the car and drove to 108 Mifflin Street. Even though it was a Thursday morning, there wasn't many people around as she drove through the town but he thoughts went straight back to the brief argument she had just had with Mary-Margaret.

After the short drive the blonde pulled up in front of the mayoral house and headed towards the front door, locking her car behind her. She was greeted with a hug from Henry before she could even knock on the door.

"Mom, you remembered," he smiled.

"Remembered what, kid?" she asked.

"Breakfast? Granny's?" he said with a sigh.

"Come on then," she said, "is your mom coming too?"

"Mom!" Henry shouted, "are you ready?"

The familiar sound of heels hitting the tiled floor met Emma's ears as Regina walked out from her study. She was wearing a white blouse, a black blazer and a pencil skirt that ended just below her knee.

"We were just about to give up on you, Miss Swan," Regina smiled. "Coat please, Henry, and make sure that you have your math homework."

Henry jogged back inside and did as he was asked before retrieving his school bag from the floor. Regina checked that she had all the files she needed for the long day at the office before heading out of the front door meeting the blonde with a smile.

"I'll meet you there?" the brunette said as she unlocked her car from the porch, "I need the car for work."

"It's fine, I'll give Henry a lift to school and then take you to work," Emma said, "I don't mind. I actually need to speak to you about some budgeting."

Regina was about to protest the blondes kindness but then she saw the longing in the green eyes that she knew all too well.

"Fine," she smiled.

"I call shotgun!" Henry shouted as he ran towards the bright yellow car.

"Shotgun? Since when did he have a..."

"Calling shotgun means he calls the passenger seat," Emma explained. "Henry, your mother will be in the front seat," she shouted down the pathway.

Forty five minutes later, Emma was dropping Regina off for a day at the mayoral office. The brunette became confused when Emma didn't follow her into the building, after all they needed to talk about budgets... right?

"Are you sure?" Regina asked, "I can move some meetings around."

"Regina," Emma sighed, "it wasn't about budgeting, but either way it isn't important now."

The blonde drove away as soon as the last word left her mouth, leaving a bewildered Regina stood on the side of the road with none of her files. She muttered under breath about how incompetent Emma was before heading towards her office for a day of meetings and paperwork.

* * *

 

The day seemed to flow by quickly for Regina, budgeting meetings and citizen concerns seemed to merge into one big problem that caused the Mayor to have a terrible migraine. As she left the Town Hall around 9 pm, she remembered that Emma had brought her to work. She considered walking but her feet were hurting from her heels, so she pulled her mobile phone from her bag and dialed the Sheriffs number.

 _"Hello Madame Mayor,"_ Emma said as she answered the phone from the Sheriffs station.

"Sheriff, how am I supposed to get home?" Regina said sternly, "in case you had forgotten you kindly gave me a lift this morning."

_"So you want me to pick you up?"_

"Well if you're suggesting that I walk..."

_"Well you do have two legs and two feet... or do you just want time alone with me?"_

"Ms. Swan, please just come to the Town Hall and finish what you started this morning," Regina said before ending the call.

Regina waited by the side of the road in the cold wind before she saw a familiar flashing of blue and red lights which pulled up on the roadside.

"Looking for a ride, Madame Mayor?" the blonde said.

"You know the lights and the siren are only supposed to be used in an emergency, Sheriff," Regina said as she climbed into the passenger seat.

"Well I thought this was an emergency," the blonde mused.

"Just take me home, Miss Swan."

Emma began driving towards the mayoral mansion in silence, it had been a long day but she was damned if she was going to go home and face her mother.

"Doing the night shift?" the mayor asked.

"Yeah," Emma said, "I think my mother kinda threw me out the apartment so I'm avoiding going back there."

"You still have the guest room waiting for you back at the house," Regina said softly.

"I'm good thanks," the blonde sighed, "I have a stack of paperwork I should start on."

"That would be helpful, I need it by midday on Friday, Sheriff."

As Emma pulled up outside 108 Mifflin Street the brunette sighed knowing she was going home to an empty house. Henry was at his grandmothers and she didn't really have 'friends'.

"Good night, Madame Mayor," Emma smiled halfheartedly as the brunette walked to her front door.

Regina turned around and smiled to blonde before she drove off. Within an hour the mayor had had something to eat, had a shower and was getting comfy in her queen-sized bed. Until tonight she had never really realized how lonely it was. But as the brunette was drifting into a deep sleep, a certain blonde sat at the town line on the hood of the cruiser.


	4. Chapter 4

Emma Swan sat on the hood of her yellow bug sipping a cup of coffee as she stared down the road that left Storybrooke. She could leave if she wanted, she wouldn't have to be the Savior anymore, she could try to live a normal-ish life. She could go to Boston and get her old job back... right? But there was one thing that was stopping her.

Henry.

Thanks to her son she had found her family and people who loved her. But despite all efforts Emma Swan had put herself in an impossible position where if she ran away she would be hurting more than herself, she'd be hurting the people she loved and that loved her.

"Don't do it," a voice said softly from behind her. "I know what you're thinking, Emma. Please don't do it."

Emma span around, she looked to the figure in the shadows whom the voice belonged to.

"Think about Henry," the voice said again.

"Regina?" the blonde questioned.

Before appearing in the darkened road, Regina had been laid in her queen-sized bed with an uneasy feeling settling in her stomach. She did everything she could to fall asleep, she read her book, she surfed the net and even tried 'counting sheep'. Nothing worked. She threw the silk covers from her body and walked over to her mirror and waved her hand.

"Mirror, mirror on the wall, show me who needs help most of all," the brunette said.

"Yes, your majesty," Sidney said from inside the mirror.

The mirror rippled and zoomed into a yellow car, a car she knew all too well. A car that was sat at the town line, and on the hood of the car sat Emma Swan, and that's when she knew Emma needed help. Even if the stubborn blonde wouldn't admit it.

On the dim lit road, Regina stood from the shadows revealing that it was in fact her.

"Regina you can't creep up on people in the middle of the night," Emma said with a raised voice.

The blonde spun back round and faced the road ahead of her and of course a decision she had to make. Unknown to Emma, the brunette began walking towards the car she had nicknamed 'the death-trap'.

"Emma, you  _can't_  leave," Regina said.

"Why not?" the blonde said as she shrugged her shoulders. "Everyone has their happy endings, I broke the curse. I did everything I had to do... so why can't I leave?"

"Because Henry needs you."

Emma sighed and took a sip of her coffee, she tried to ignore what the Mayor was saying even though she knew it was true. She thought back to her 28th birthday wish and how it had in fact come true... she wanted a family but not like this. All she wanted was normality, a family to go home to and someone to cuddle up to on a cold and windy night. She currently had one out out three things, leaving would hopefully give her two out of three.

"He has you, Mary-Margaret and David," Emma finally said after a period of silence, "you're all the family he needs. He doesn't need me screwing everything up like I always do."

"One month," Regina said.

"One month, what?"

"Give it one month, give  _me_  one month to change your mind. If you still want to leave then, then I'll let you go."

"Regina..."

"If you really want to leave nothing can change your mind, right? So what's one month? One month left with your family... with Henry, and then you can go," the brunette said pleadingly, "please give me one month, Swan."

"One week," the blonde bartered.

"Three weeks," the brunette shot back.

"Two weeks," Emma smirked.

"20 days."

"Deal, Mills."

"Now Ms. Swan, how about a cup of cocoa and a peaceful nights sleep?"


	5. Chapter 5 || Day One

Regina woke up at her normal time of 6:30 am and sighed. Starting today she had 20 days to convince the blonde Savior to stay in Storybrooke for the sake of their son, Henry.

The brunette dragged herself from her bed and put her light blue silk dressing gown on and headed downstairs so she could put a pot of coffee on and make some breakfast for when Henry and Emma woke up.

When she reached the bottom of the stairs, the smell of bacon and eggs hit her and she followed the smell to her kitchen.

"Emma?" she asked when she saw the blonde at the stove.

"Regina," the blonde smiled as she turned around to face the brunette, "you're awake."

"And you're cooking," the Mayor said as she sat down at the island in the middle of her kitchen. "Since when do you cook?"

"Since I needed to say thank you."

"You're staying?"

"No, I still want to leave," Emma said, "but you let me in last night instead of me going home to a million and one questions... so yeah, I gotta thank you."

"Well," Regina smirked, "it would be a good thank you if your eggs weren't burning, dear."

"Shit."

"Language, Ms. Swan."

"Sorry," Emma said as she scraped the burnt eggs into the bin. "That was your fault," she added as she turned round to the brunette.

"Sorry I distracted you from your rubbish cooking," Regina said with a laugh.

"Sorry I didn't have the time to teach myself."

"Okay," the brunette said with an idea.

"Okay... what?" Emma said as she took the seat next to Regina.

"I'll teach you how to cook, consider it part of Operation... Cheetah."

"And Operation Cheetah is?" Emma asked. "Getting me to stay?"

The brunette gave the blonde a little nod before heading over to the coffee machine. She needed her morning caffeine fix if she was going to teach the Sheriff how to cook, she knew it would be a long process as she gets more meals from Granny's diner and her mother rather than cooking something herself.

When 9 am rolled around, Henry woke up from a peaceful slumber and headed downstairs knowing that his mother would have some form of a breakfast ready for him to devour. When he reached the kitchen he saw something he wasn't used to in that mayoral mansion... a messy kitchen.

"Morning Henry," a happy blonde said from the stove.

"Mom, what happened in here? And why are you cooking? Why are you here?"

"Take a seat kid, I'm making you breakfast... well your mom is trying to teach me."

Regina walked into the kitchen after setting the dining room, surprised to see Henry up this early on a Saturday.

"Morning, sweetie," she said.

"Morning, mom," he replied.

The brunette walked over to where Emma was standing at the stove and told her that her third batch of eggs were edible and ready to be plated up. The blonde plated the eggs next to the bacon and toast before smiling at her work.

"Bon app茅tit," she said with a grin.

The blonde carried all three plates into the dining room using the skills she gained working as a waitress earlier on in her life, and the trio sat and ate their breakfast. The older woman commented on how Emma had done a good job, while Henry asked if he could have more.

"So, what are we making next?" Emma asked with a smile.

Regina looked up from her plate, the smile across Emma's face was one she hadn't seen before. It seemed to light up her face but at the same time tell a story that not many people knew; one she wouldn't mind knowing. "Anything you want, Ms. Swan," the brunette said.

"Can I help?" the teenage boy asked, "can we make cake?"

"Cake seems good," Emma replied, "how about a chocolate cake?"

Emma stood up and collected the plates before taking them back into the kitchen to be washed. As soon as the blonde left the room, Henry turned to his other mother with a sad face.

"Mom?"

"Yes."

"Why does Ma want to leave?" he asked.

The sadness in his eyes were overwhelming and Regina wondered how he kept composed around the Sheriff. But how did he know? He wasn't at the town line last night; he was at the mansion asleep.

"I came down earlier to get some water and I know I shouldn't have but I overheard you talking and..." the boy rambled.

"Henry, remember the operation you had with Emma about breaking the curse?" the brunette asked interrupting the boys ramblings.

"Operation Cobra?"

"Well getting Emma to stay is Operation Cheetah," she explained. "I don't know why she wants to leave, but we have 20 days."

"What's the plan?" he asked.

"Well..." she began; she had it all planned and despite not wanting Henry to know, she was glad she had an ally in getting the blonde to stay.


	6. Chapter 6 || Day Three

Emma sat in Granny's diner with her usual order; a hot chocolate with whipped cream and cinnamon and a bear claw. She looked to the clock on the wall and saw that there was only 10 minutes until Henry was dropped off by the school bus.

"You okay?" Ruby asked as she leaned on the counter.

"Yeah, I guess," the blonde replied. "Just waiting for Henry."

"Okay," the brunette said; she knew something was wrong about the blonde but she refused to press further into the matter. "Want to go out tonight?"

"I'm good thanks. I still haven't mentally recovered from the last time we went out."

Ruby let out a laugh, "you do remember that you are the one who dared me... right?"

"Yeah, but I thought you had, like, a shred of dignity and not run through the park naked."

"I never turn down a dare, Em," the brunette smiled before walking away to take an order.

Emma carried on eating her pastry before the ringing of the door's bell and running footsteps brought her out of her thoughts.

"Hey, Ma," the teenage boy said as he took a seat next to Emma.

"Hey, kid. How was school?

"Same old, same old," he smiled.

"How is everything with your mother? Has she recovered from my cooking yet?"

They both thought back to a few days ago when Regina had been teaching Emma to make her famous lasagna recipe after baking a cake. The blonde thought it would be funny to start a food fight... and Regina was not impressed and ordered for both Henry and Emma to clean the kitchen until she deemed it spotless.

"She's good, just a bit bored now Grandma is the new Mayor... and I asked her for guitar lessons for, like, the millionth time."

"Hey, I can teach you, kid," she suggested, "if you want, that is."

"Really?!"

The way Henry's face lit up at the suggestion made Emma's heart ache. She knew that leaving would crush the kid, but she couldn't screw his life up. The most she could do is to give him a few guitar lessons and spend some time with him; she could leave him some good memories of her before he hated her.

"Sure, kid, I've got an old one that you can have."

"Can we go now?"

* * *

 

Regina walked through the white front door of her home after her afternoon walk, something she did now that she didn't have mountains of paperwork to attend to everyday. When she closed the door the sound of a guitar playing hit her ears; she remembered that Henry had asked for lessons when he was younger but where the hell did he get the guitar from?

She followed the sounds of the gentle chords to her living room and as she got closer she heard a soft voice singing along to the music.

"And I'd give up forever to touch you," the voice sang. "'Cause I know that you feel me somehow. You're the closet to heaven that I'll ever be, and I don't want to go home right now."

The brunette gazed into the living room and saw Henry with an old guitar in his lap and Emma with her back to her holding her own guitar. The teenager stuck his tongue out in concentration which reminded the brunette of all the times when he was younger and he tried to do his math homework by himself.

"And I don't want the world to see me, 'cause I don't think that they'd understand," the Sheriff carried on singing. "When everything's meant to be broken, I just want you to know who I am."

When Henry looked up, he saw Regina leaning against the door frame so he stopped playing. "Mom, did you see me play?"

The Sheriff turned around at Henry's questions and blushed when she knew that the former Mayor had heard her sing.

"Yes I did, you too Ms. Swan. I never knew you could sing."

"I can't, Ms. Mills."

"Well you were either singing our I am having auditory delusions," Regina retorted.

"I guess you are crazy then," Emma said with a smirk.

"Can you teach me more, Ma?" Henry asked.

"If it is okay with your mom."

"Please, don't stop on my behalf," Regina smiled. "What would you like for your dinner, Henry?"

"Pizza?"

The suggestion was met with a look of disbelief from Regina before she asked to see the teenager in the kitchen before he continued his lesson.

"What do you want, mom?" Henry asked with a smile.

"I know you asked for lessons a when you was 9, but why is Emma teaching you?" she asked.

"Operation Cheetah," he whispered. "I found Ma's old guitar a few days ago and figured she used to play."

Regina smiled at her sons plan, she knew that he was invested in getting the Savior to stay in Storybrooke but she never knew what his next plan was going to be. She would openly admit that when Emma first arrived in the small town she hated her presence but as time went on she began to feel the absence of the blonde when she wasn't around.

"Go and finish your lesson while I make your pizza," she smiled.

Henry ran back to the living room to his other mother and soon the strumming of the two guitars and Emma's singing was gracing the former Mayors ears once again. As she made the pizza her mind kept wondering to the blonde Savior and her past; the one Regina had condemned her to. She wondered how much of Emma's past made given her the need to run when something had gotten too much for her.

"I'm heading out," a familiar voice said.

Regina turned around to face Emma, "you're not staying for dinner?"

"It's your night with the kid, the least I can do is let you eat in peace after I have filled your house with my God-awful singing," she replied.

"Please stay, Henry would love it."

Emma shook her head before turning around to collect her guitar and leave. But before she could leave the kitchen Regina had called Henry to the kitchen.

"Yeah, mom," he said as he came sliding to a stop in the tiled floor.

"Would you like Emma to stay for dinner?" she asked.

Her question was met with a glare from the blonde.

"Yeah, sure," he said before walking back to his room.

"I told you," Regina said with a smirk. "Would you like a drink?"

20 minutes later and the trio were sat in their usual places around the dining table eating the pizza that the former Mayor had cooked; she even had two slices herself instead of her usual salad. After they had finished their meal the older woman took the plates into the kitchen whilst Henry went back to his room to play his video game.

Just as Regina was about to wash the dishes she was moved out the way by Emma, "you've done enough today," she smiled, "at least let me do the dishes."

"You're a guest, dear," the older woman said as she crossed her arms.

"I'm more than a guest,  _dear_ ," the blonde retorted with a grin.

The former Mayor retreated to the dining room where she cleared up the mess her son and his other mother had undoubtedly made. Whilst wiping the table she heard the slow strumming of a guitar coming from upstairs.

"He's a fast learner," a voice said making the former Queen jump.

"What the-" Regina said, "you can't just sneak up on me like that, Emma."

The blonde bit her lip; a sign that she was either nervous or she was trying to hold in laughter. Regina had learned that over the years and with this situation she decided that it was the latter.

"When someone sneaks up on you one day and gives you a heart attack, you'll understand Swan," she said as she leaned against her table.

"I don't think that's entirely possible, but you can believe what you want, Mills."

The couple made their way to the living room where Emma had left her trusty guitar. Regina picked and nearly dropped it, not prepared for it's weight.

"Careful, don't break it!" Emma said quickly, "it's, like, my prized possession... aside from the Bug."

"The Bug needs to go."

"Never."

"What else can you do?"

"Aside from play it..." the blonde began.

"I mean... what other songs can you play aside from the one you have been teaching Henry."

"I've been teaching myself a Colbie Calliat song called  _I Never Told You_ and the chords are-" she began to explain.

Regina sat on the sofa with the guitar still in hand, "play it."

"No."

"Why?"

"I don't play for an audience, I play for me... that's why."

"I'm not an audience, Swan. I'm me, Regina Mills, former Queen and Mayor and the mother of  _our_ son and  _I_ want to hear you play the damn song."

Emma smirked, "make a deal with me. I play and 5 days gets knocked off the overall 20, meaning after tonight you have 12 days left."

"2 days," Regina countered.

"4 days," Emma shot back.

"3 days," Regina said.

"Deal."

The blonde took the guitar from the brunettes grip and sat in the sofa opposite her and began to play the intro to the song.

"I miss those blue eyes, how you kiss me at night," she sang. "I miss the way we sleep."

She carried on playing the song, never missing a beat. But unknown to the women Henry was listening his moms conversation; he heard everything from his mother nearly dropping the guitar to Emma singing for Regina. When he heard the deal, he had to stop himself from running into the room, but deep down he knew that even with three days less, they could get Emma to stay.

The teenager crept back up the stairs to his room and pulled out one of his many notebooks and began writing.  _'Operation Cheetah: Phase 4.'_


	7. Chapter 7 || Day Four and Five

For Emma Swan her day started normally. She woke up around 6:30 am due to Neal, she got showered and dressed, had breakfast and headed to the station for work.

The ending to her day was to be quite different as Henry had come up with another plan to get her to stay in Storybrooke... a plan he hadn't told his older mother in fear of having the master plan shot down.

Like normal for a Thursday afternoon, Emma waited for Henry outside the school gates in her yellow Bug. She hadn't been waiting more than 5 minutes before the teenager sat in the passenger seat a little out of breath and a grin plastered across his face.

"Ma?"

"Yeah, kid?" she said as she started the Bug up.

"Can we go camping this weekend?"

"Camping? Would your mother even let you?"

"Well your my mom and you would."

"I meant Regina, kid."

"On my own with you... probably not. Which is why she is coming too," he smirked. "Please, I know the perfect spot and -"

"Woah, calm down. I'll take you, but if your mom says no then we won't go... okay."

The teenager nodded in agreement, he was now thinking of ways to covince his older mother to come with them... he knew it wouldn't be easy; Regina liked her bed. Emma drove through the quiet streets of Storybrooke thinking about all the great things they could do while camping. The blonde was nearing her destination of 108 Mifflin Street and Henry still had no concrete idea on ways to convince his mother.

Before she had the chance to turn the engine off, Henry was making his way up the path running striaght towards the white front door.

"Convince her, Ma!" he shouted before opening the door, the door which he left open for Emma. "I'm home, Mom!" he shouted once he was inside the house and running to his room.

"Henry, don't run in the house," Regina shouted as she saw a glimpse of her son.

"Afternoon Regina," Emma said as she let herself into the house, closing the door behind her.

"Emma," Regina smiled.

"So," Emma said dragging the word out. "Henry wanted me to ask you if I could take him camping this weekend."

"Camping?! Would he even be safe?"

"You should know by now that I would never let any harm come to him when he is with me, 'Gina," Emma said, she mentally slapped herself for giving the brunette a nickname and hoped that she wouldn't notice. "I think it would be nice for us all to spend some time together away from civilization..."

"All of us," the brunette quoted, "you want me to come?"

"Yeah, Henry thought you'd only let him come if you were there," Emma rambled, "and well... I'd kinda like you to be there."

"You would?" she asked, shock lacing her voice.

After the curse had broken no one had opted to voluntarily spend time around the brunette, even Henry took time to get used to the idea. Regina had the sudden realization that Emma was the one who got the teen used to the idea that she was no longer the Evil Queen.

"Yeah, it would be nice," Emma said as she bit her bottom lip and put her hands in the pack pockets of her dark wash jeans.

"When do we leave?" Regina asked.

"Wait... you're actually coming?" Emma asked.

"Well both you and Henry seem to want me there, and I'll be damned if I am letting you two camp alone," the brunette smiled. "You'll probably set fire to the woods or fall off a cliff."

"How would we survive without you, Ms. Mills?" Emma smirked. "And we leave tomorrow after Henry has finished school."

* * *

Friday afternoon couldn't come quick enough for the excited teen. Before he knew it he was giving his blonde mother instructions to where the perfect place to camp over night was. They had borrowed David's truck and all that they needed was tucked under tarp as they drove through the streets of Storybrooke towards their destination.

"Turn left here," Henry said. He looked to his blonde mother who was too engrossed in he own thoughts to hear him. "Turn left, Ma!" he shouted.

"Henry, you don't need to shout," Regina scolded.

Emma turned left and they were finally at their destination. The campsite wasn't anything special, but for some reason Henry thought it was the perfect place which means he knew something about the clearing in the woods.

"We need to get the tents up and make a fire -" Henry began rambling.

"Calm down, kid. We have all weekend," Emma laughed as she turned the engine off.

Within the hour, all three small tents were up and in a circle and there was a gentle fire in the middle of them all to keep the occupants warm throughout the night. Henry has already decided what they were having for dinner and made sure that Emma had her guitar so that they could have campfire songs later on that night.

"Can I go exploring?" the teen asked suddenly.

"Sure kid," Emma said straight away, "Just don't go too far."

The teen picked up a flashlight and headed into the woods around them hoping to find something worth discussing later. After packing away the bags that contained the three tents, Emma retired to her spot on the fallen tree besides Regina.

"You okay?" she asked when she saw the vacant expression on her face.

 _Yeah, I'm good thanks,_  the brunette thought, aside from the fact that I am kinda totally in love with you... I'm fantastic.

"Can I ask you something?" the brunette asked.

"You just did," Emma smirked.

Regina bumped her shoulder with the blondes, "you know what I mean, Emma."

God, Emma loved how her name sounded when Regina said it... she loved anything that came out of the brunettes mouth.

"Shoot."

"I don't know whether I was imagining it, but yesterday did you call me 'Gina?"

 _Oh shit,_  Emma thought, _this is where I die_.

"Erm... yea... no?" the blonde stuttered.

"Yes or no, Emma."

"Yeah?" Emma said, her answer sounding more like a question than anything else.

"Why?"

"Why, what?"

"Why'd you call me that?"

"I don't know, it just slipped out," Emma said, the blood rushing to her cheeks causing them to blush.

Emma was about to say something when Henry came running back into their campsite, destroying the moment like all kids do.

"Enjoy your exploring?" Regina asked, her eyes raked over her son to make sure that he hadn't succumbed to any injuries without his mothers present.

"You'll never guess what I found," he said with a wide grin on his face.

****


	8. Chapter 8 || Day Six

Saturday morning had finally come, and Emma was itching to see what Henry had found the previous evening. He had done a brilliant job of keeping the secret to himself and even lured his blonde mother into a guessing game... one which she had lost badly. She felt more like a teenager than a grown woman; truth was she had never had the pleasure of going camping when she was younger... sleeping in her yellow Bug was as far as she had gotten.

"Regina, wake up," she shouted inside the brunettes tent.

"Really, Swan?" Regina sighed as she stepped out her tent.

Emma looked over Regina's outfit; tight jeans and a form-fitting t-shirt...  _Damn she looks hot_  the blonde thought to herself.

"Yes, really," Emma said with a beaming smile, she shoved a plate full of food to the brunette, "now eat food."

The blonde walked away from Regina and took her place on the fallen log like the night before and tucked into her own meal that consisted of beans and sausages along with a mug of coffee. When everyone had eaten and they were all washed and dressed it was only 8:30 am but Henry was more than ready to reveal what he had found. Henry walked from the campsite whilst his mothers followed not far behind him; he was in his element out in the woods, it suited him.

"Emma?"

"Yeah," the blonde said as she ran her fingers through her hair.

"What was you about to say last night," Regina asked, "before Henry came back from his exploring?"

"It doesn't matter, wasn't anything important."

"It's important to me," Regina said with a smile; a smile that lit her eyes up like the sun.

"Well..." Emma began.

"We're here!" Henry shouted as he ran back to his mothers.

The teen grabbed both his mothers by the arms and dragged them to the waters edge, in front of them was one of the most beautiful lakes any of them had seen. The water was clear and reflected the summer sun and in the distance there was a large waterfall, to the left of them stood a tree with tire swing hanging from the biggest branch and to the right of them a jetty leading out into the deeper waters.

"It's beautiful," Regina sighed. "I never knew this place was in Storybrooke."

"We're not in Storybrooke, Mom."

"We're not?" Emma and Regina said in unison.

"No, we are are about three miles from the town line," he smiled.

"What about the 'Leaving Storybrooke' sign?" Emma asked.

"Leroy crashed into it, Grandma is waiting for a new one."

Emma and Regina looked confused that the didn't already possess this information; but for Regina it shows just how much she doesn't miss being the Mayor of the quaint little town.

"Can I go swimming, mom?"

"Swimming? Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine, I won't go too far... I promise."

Emma and Regina gave Henry the nod of approval before he took his shirt, socks and shoes off leaving his trousers on. He ran over to the tree with the tire swing and launched himself into the lake. Regina was taking her surroundings when she saw Emma taking her shirt off out the corner of her eye.

"What are you doing, Swan?"

"I'm off swimming," she replied in a 'duh' tone.

"Do you really need to traumatize our son with your underwear?"

"He won't be traumatized."

Regina lifted a perfectly sculpted eyebrow at the blonde so she sighed and put her shirt back on leaving her trousers, socks and shoes off. She headed for the wooden jetty and the blonde just knew that Regina was staring at her ass... and she was right; Regina couldn't tear her eyes away from the sight in front of her.

Emma took at chance and turned around catching a glimpse of the former Mayor looking away from her, "not coming in, Regina?" she asked.

"If you think I am getting in there you are crazy, Swan."

"Fair enough, be bored on your own."

The blonde carried on walking down the wooden jetty, the wood creaking under her footsteps. When she was three quarters of the way down she did a perfect dive into the water. Regina took a seat on one of the many boulders that littered the waters edge... she did consider going in but then decided against it.

After a while, Regina couldn't see or hear Emma and Henry in the water and she began to panic. She shouted for the duo but heard nothing back. She stood up to go and search for them when strong arms wrapped around her waist and picked her up.

"Unhand me, now!" she shouted and she kicked her legs.

She took a deep breath and struggled in her captors embrace. Whoever was holding her was walking towards the jetty and the feisty brunette didn't prevail in trying to escape. When they reached the three quarter mark where Emma had dived in the brunette was launched into the cold water with a squeal from her and a grunt from her thrower.

Regina swam to the surface of the cold water and saw none other than Emma Swan and their son.

"You... you a-are so d-dead," she stuttered to Emma.

The blonde smiled at Regina before taking a few steps backwards and then running and jumping in the water besides Regina, Henry following suit. When Emma resurfaced Regina splashed her in the face playfully and the Sheriff responded in the same manner. Soon Emma and Regina had teamed up and were against a helpless teen who moaned that it wasn't fair... then unexpectedly Regina turned on Emma and joined Henry's side.

The trio played in the water for a while longer before Emma said she was hungry and that it was time for dinner. When they were back on shore, Regina was the only one without anything dry to put on so Emma gave her the red leather jacket she had come to love over the years. When they reached the campsite, they could only see two tents standing... there was three before they left, everyone was sure of it. When they got closer, they could see that one of the tents had been torn down and was ripped beyond repair.

"Well, isn't it my lucky day," Regina sighed throwing her hands up in frustration. "First I get thrown in a lake then this happens."

"It's okay, there is enough room in my tent so Henry can stay with me and you can have his."

"Ma!" Henry whined, "I wanted to stay on my own, please..." he pleaded with his trademark puppy-dog face.

"It's up to your mom, kid. If she doesn't mind staying with me then she can... I'm not bothered either way."

Henry looked to Regina and silently pleaded for her to stay with Emma and after a few seconds she gave in.

After an eventful afternoon of searching the woods, the trio were settling down on the fallen log with their dinners. Henry had decided earlier on that day that they just  _had_  to have smores on the fire along with scary stories and campfire songs after their dinner.

"So, what first, kid? Scary stories or campfire songs?" Emma asked as she got the graham crackers, chocolate and marshmallows out of the cooler bag.

"We need to wait until it's dark for the stories, so songs," he said excitedly. "Let me go and get my guitar, I've been practicing," he said as he hurried off to the truck.

"You're too good to him, Swan," Regina said with a warm smile. "I'm glad he found you."

"Finally over the wanting to kill me phase, eh?" Emma said jokingly.

"I was over that long ago, Emma."

Over the next few hours Emma and Henry took turns in playing their guitars in between eating smores; they even coaxed Regina into eating the delicacy. They soon turned to telling spooky stories and before long Henry was heading off into his tent with a goodnight to his mothers. Emma got her large blanket from her tent and laid in on the floor where Regina's tent should have laid.

"Kicking me out before I've even gotten in, Swan?" Regina asked with a smirk.

Emma laid down on the blanket, "no, I'm going to lay down and stare at the stars. You are welcome to join me if the floor isn't too below your standards, your Majesty."

Regina pulled her jacket around her body before laying next to the blonde on the blanket. They both lay parallel to each other with a respectable amount of space between them.

"If you look there," Emma said pointing to the night sky and pointed out the constellations that she could see.

Regina was in awe, in awe at how at home she felt around Emma. She hadn't felt like this in a along time. Subconsciously she shuffled over to the blonde, not too much but enough to feel the warmth radiating off of her.

"Emma?"

"Regina?

"Can I ask you -" she began.

"Shh, quick, a shooting star" Emma interrupted, "we have to make a wish."

Regina closed her eyes and let out a shaky breath,  _I wish I had the strength to tell you how I feel,_ she wished.

Emma looked to the night sky to make her wish,  _I wish I could leave Storybrooke with the woman I love,_  she wished.

****


	9. Chapter 9 || Day Nine

Their weekend camping was all Henry could talk about when they had arrived home three days ago. He told his grandparents, Snow and David, about everything they did, and he described his and Emma's plan to get Regina in the lake in great detail.

It wasn't long before he was asking if they could have another camping trip sometime in the future, something that made Emma's heart ache because she was only going to be in Storybrooke for another 8 days... that was unless Regina was planning something drastic to stop her from going anywhere. The blonde still couldn't understand why the former Queen cared so much.

Emma was trying to spend as much time as she could with her parents, younger brother and Henry, and right now they were having lunch in Granny's Diner.

"How are you?" Snow asked.

"I'm good," Emma replied with a smile.

Conversation at the diner was futile and topics were scarce. Emma tried forcing herself to tell her parents about her departure in the near future, but each time she imagined the conversation she could see the disappointment on their face, the sadness and guilt willing her to stay in every scenario.

"Kid, where's your mom? And why aren't you at school?" Emma said as she saw Henry enter the diner alone.

Henry took his seat next to Emma and stole a few of her onion rings much to her distaste, "TTD, and I don't know, she just dropped me off here and told me to be good.."

"TTD?" Emma asked.

"Teacher training day," both Snow and Henry said at the same time.

The small family carried on eating their dinner whilst Henry drank his milkshake and it wasn't long before they had all finished.

"Henry, do you mind staying with Mary Margaret and David whilst I go and sort some things out with your mom."

"Can grandpa give me another driving lesson?" the teen asked.

"No, your mom would kill me."

Emma left Henry with her parents and she headed to the mayoral mansion in her VW Bug. She wanted to check on the brunette as she hadn't seen or heard from her since they arrived back in Storybrooke. She wasn't worried that the brunette was about to do something evil, she just didn't like the fact that Regina was on her own most of the time because she didn't really have anyone besides Henry.

As she walked up the pathway to the front door, the sound of music was becoming slightly louder and the blonde wondered whether she would be interrupting something but despite her thoughts, she knocked on the door.

The woman who answered the door was in fact Regina but Emma had never seen her dressed this way before; she was barefoot in white overalls that had various colored paint splotches all over, one of the straps was broken so the front drifted down giving the blonde a view of the black sports bra. The brunettes hair was tied up and she wore glasses much like the ones the blonde had worn when she was younger.

"Emma," Regina smiled as she lent against the door frame, "is Henry okay?"

"He's fine, I was just checking on you. I wanted to make sure you were okay... I haven't seen you since the camping trip."

"Oh," Regina sighed, "I'm fine, just doing a little painting as you can see."

"Can I come in?"

Regina stepped backwards and let the blonde through the front door, the bitter smell of paint instantly hit her nostrils.

"What can I do for you?" Regina said as she walked towards her kitchen.

Emma followed the former Queen without hesitation, "I'm taking you somewhere," Emma blurted out.

"Where?"

"Where's your favorite place, Ms. Mills?" Emma asked as she sat on one of the bar stools around the kitchen island.

Regina reached into her fridge for the jug of lemonade and then poured a glass for her and Emma. The brunette was soon sat next to the blonde and was pondering the question she had been asked.

She used to love her stables back in the Enchanted Forest but ever since her mother had killed Daniel she hadn't step foot in one since. But since she had arrived in Storybrooke the former Mayor liked to spend time in her art room, it was a place she could simply be free and put her emotions onto a canvas or she could transform it into a dark room and develop her photos.

"My art room," she finally answered.

"Art room?" Emma asked.

Regina stood from her seat and took Emma's hand. She lead the blonde through the house and to a room that not even Henry knew about. When she opened the door a gasp was heard from Emma.

"This is beautiful," Emma said as she studied the many painting on the wall. "Did you paint these?"

Regina nodded slightly as Emma looked at the photographs in frames, "I took those too," she said.

"You're talented, Regina, I mean it."

Regina's heart warmed at the Saviors words, they meant a lot more than Regina could ever admit to the blonde. The former Mayor suddenly remembered the painting she had been working on before Emma had turned up, thankfully the blonde hadn't noticed it so she grabbed a dust sheet and threw it over the canvas.

Out the corner of her eye Emma saw Regina's actions, "trying to hide something from me, Ms. Mills?"

"You can see it when I've finished, Ms. Swan," Regina said as she crossed her arms.

"Seen as we've been to your favorite place you need to get changed and I'll take you to mine."

"And where is that?"

"I guess you'll find out when we get there," Emma said as she ushered Regina out the room, "now get changed... and none of those power suits."

Regina pouted as she began to climb the stairs but then turned her thoughts to where the blonde would be taking her.

* * *

Four hours later and the duo were still in the yellow VW bug driving in the middle of no where.

"If you've taken me four hours away from Storybrooke to kill me, Ms. Swan, I have to say you could have done it in my own home," Regina said.

"And why would I want to kill you, Ms. Mills?"

"Because you hate me?" she replied, her answer sounding more like a question.

"Actually I quite like you," Emma shot back without missing a beat.

The blondes cheek flushed crimson when she realized what she had said.  _Did I really just say that?!_ she thought to herself.

 _Emma likes me? Did she mean that as a friend or more?_ Regina asked herself as she tried not to react to the blondes statement.

"You're quite tolerable yourself, Emma."

The duo drove for another 20 minutes and their destination came into view. Regina's eyes lit up at the sight in front of her.

"Welcome to my favorite place," Emma said as she pulled into the field and stopped the car. "The fair."

Lights illuminated the field with all the rides and booths; it was nothing like Regina had ever seen before. The sun was setting but the lights made it seem like it was still daylight.

"What do you think?" Emma said when she caught Regina staring and not moving a muscle.

"It... it's beautiful, Emma."

The blonde started walking towards the entrance of the fair but stopped when she realized that Regina wasn't following her.

"Aren't you coming?"

"Oh, we're going in?"

"Well I  _totally_ drove four hours to take a quick glance at my all time favorite place to drive four hours back," Emma said; the sarcasm dripped from her every word.

* * *

Five hours later and the duo were only just leaving the fair, it was around 9 pm and they wouldn't be getting back to Storybrooke until past midnight so Emma suggested they get a hotel room. Whilst the blonde was paying for the overnight stay, Regina rung Henry.

"Henry?"

_"Hey, Mom."_

"I was just ringing to say that me and Emma are out of town, but we will be back to pick you up around lunch time."

_"Yeah, that's fine. Have fun."_

"I love you, my little prince."

 _"Mooooom,"_ Henry whined,  _"I'm not little anymore."_

"Henry, you could be 50 years old but you'll always be my little prince."

 _"Whatever,"_ Henry said,  _"but I gotta go, Grandpa is beating me on my new video game. Love you, bye,"_ he added before hanging up.

Regina stared at her phone, "love you too," she muttered before putting the device in the back pocket of her jeans.

"Hey, you okay?" Emma said as she walked over to where Regina was standing next to the bug.

"Yeah, I'm good."

"Time to get something to eat," the blonde smiled as she walked round to the drivers side of the car.

Regina glared at the blonde, "we just ate all that junk... and you want to eat more."

Emma shrugged her shoulders, "what can I say, I'm hungry. Now get in the car woman."

The former Queen did as she was told, she was more alert to the fact that Emma had called her 'woman' than anything else. After a few seconds, the brunette decided that she liked the term of endearment but only from the woman sitting besides her.

Soon Emma was pulling into a car park of the restaurant Regina assumed they were eating at. When she looked up from her lap she saw the bright, neon sign saying聽 _Burger King._

"You've really bought me to a fast food place," Regina complained. "Can't we go somewhere that has salad or something healthy?"

"The burgers have salad in them, the chips are potato so technically everything is healthy."

"Everything is fried, that isn't healthy."

"Get your arse out my car and come and eat, Regina," Emma said with a glare, "one burger won't kill you."

 _It probably will_ Regina thought to herself as she dragged herself out of the car.

Emma led the way into the restaurant; there was less than 10 people in there, two of which were being served and all the rest were chatting away and eating their dinner. Emma looked up to the screens to pick which variety of burger she would be picking, whilst Regina's chocolate eyes searched for something that wasn't a burger and then she spotted the salad menu.

"Hi, I'm Lauren, can I take your order?" the petite woman behind the counter said.

Emma stepped forward, "hey, can I get a Steakhouse meal please."

"What drink?"

"Cola or Pepsi please."

Lauren tapped away on the screen before smiling back at the duo, "anything else?"

"Regina, what you having?"

"Can I have a chicken Caesar salad please, no dressing."

"Really?" Emma sighed, "have a burger, woman."

"Drink?"

"Do you have water or fresh orange juice?"

"We've got bottled water, but no juice, sorry."

"I'll just have the water then please."

"Is that everything?"

Regina took her purse from her bag, "Yes."

"Regina, I'm paying."

"You've already paid for enough today, Ms. Swan," Regina said as she handed over the cash.

The woman behind the counter gave Emma her cup and Regina her water before saying, "If you'd like to take a seat I'll bring everything over when it's ready."

Emma went to help herself to her drink from the self-serving station while Regina went and sat in one of the booths in the far corner away from everyone else. After a few minutes Emma came over with napkins and sauces and sat on the opposite side of the booth to the brunette.

Despite managing to find conversation for the rest of the day, the women couldn't find a single thing to talk about now that they were sat opposite each other in a restaurant; they just stared at each other and drank their drinks. Even when their food came they were mostly silent apart from Emma voicing the occasional moan about who good the food was.

* * *

Around 11pm a yellow Bug pulled up into the car park of the hotel that the duo were staying at. They were both tired to say the least, and they wanted to leave early in the morning.

They made their way to the elevator and headed to their room; Emma had already paid but they hadn't step foot inside the room yet.

When they reached the right door Emma used the key card and let Regina in first who headed straight into the bathroom. The blonde ventured further into the small room and saw that there was one double bed... she could have sworn she asked for a room with two beds.

After a few minutes the brunette finally exited the bathroom and when she saw Emma laid on the only bed available she sighed.

"I swear I asked for two separate beds," Emma said defending herself against the sign.

"We're adults, Emma," Regina said as she sat on the edge of the bed, "we can sleep in a bed without anything happening."

Emma turned her bedside lamp out after taking her shoes and jacket off and got under the covers. Regina's bedside lamp was the only light illuminating the small room, but the brunette was reluctant to move from her spot on the end of the bed.

"You not going to sleep?" Emma asked.

"Not tired."

Emma put her arms behind her head, "well my super-power says you're a liar."

"Fine!" the brunette snapped. She copied Emma's earlier actions of undressing and then climbed into the uncomfortable bed and laid with her back to Emma. "Goodnight, Ms. Swan," she said before turning the lamp off and sending the room into darkness.

"What's wrong?" Emma said as she turned onto her side so she was facing Regina. "Talk to me."

Even though Regina had heard Emma she refused to answer her, she didn't want to burden the blonde with something so petty. The room was filled with silence, if each women could hear the others thoughts then they would be drowned with questions and answers.

Eventually Emma drifted off to sleep but Regina couldn't sleep. She was constantly thinking about the blonde next to her; how she wanted to snuggle into the crook of her neck, how she wanted to run her fingers through the long tresses of blonde hair and how she wanted to be able to kiss Emma goodnight.

She never thought she would have fallen so hard for someone who was supposed to be her enemy... On paper Emma was so wrong for Regina but no matter how hard the brunette fought her deepening feelings she felt like being with Emma would be right.


	10. Chapter 10 || Day Ten

Emma awoke early the next day, she would have liked to say that sleeping next to Regina was a wonderful experience - and it was apart from one thing.

The blonde was pretty sure that she knew the reason Regina was reluctant to go to sleep.

_Emma woke up when a hand punched her in the face. Normally she would've wondered who the hell was sleeping in her bed, but on this particular night she remembered that Regina was sleeping beside her._

_"Regina, what the hell?!" Emma asked in a hushed whisper._

_"Emma," the brunette mumbled as she tossed and turned on her side of the bed, "help me."_

_"Regina?"_

_When Emma didn't get a reply from the brunette she leaned over to bedside lamp and switched it on. She saw Regina with her eyes closed; clearly still asleep and dreaming._

_Her arms flailed around her as she mumbled more incoherent sentences in between rapid breaths. The brunettes face was painted with fear and it worried Emma._

_"Regina," she whispered; she knew she shouldn't wake Regina but she could try and calm her. "It's fine, I'm here."_

_"Emma save me," she mumbled, "Greg... Tamara," she added; tears were now falling down the brunettes cheeks. "Don't let them hurt me."_

_Emma made shushing sounds as she wiped the tears away and then she brushed stray hairs from the brunettes face._

_"I'm here, Regina, you're safe."_

_Emma placed a kiss on Reginas forehead before turning her lamp off and turing to face the now peaceful sleeping brunette. She moved slightly closer to Regina and putting her arms over her waist._

_Even in her sleeping state Regina loved the gesture and moved as close to Emma as she could; much to Emmas surprise._ _Within minutes the blonde was in her own world of dreams._

Emma looked around and saw that she was in fact alone. She got out the bed and looked around the small room and Regina was no where to be seen. Just as she was about to ring the brunette the door opened and the smell of fresh coffee hit Emma's nose which pleased her.

"You got coffee?" Emma asked.

"Is that a problem, Ms. Swan?"

"Still mad at me?"

"I was never mad at you."

"Then why the formalities?"

Regina shook her head as she handed Emma her large coffee, "we should head off soon if we want to get there for lunch time."

"Anyone would think that you're the driver."

"I would never drive that heap of junk you call a car."

"Hey!" Emma said, "don't diss the Bug or I'll leave you here."

* * *

Three hours into the journey and they were still submitted into silence apart from the crackly radio which had been picking up different radio stations for the past 50 miles.

"Regina, can I ask you something?"

"Hmm?" Regina said; Emma's voice bringing her out of her day dream.

"Can I ask you something?"

"Go ahead, dear."

"Promise you won't get mad?"

"Okay."

 _Come on, Swan. Just ask her. The worst she can do is not answer... and then probably hate you forever,_  Emma thought to herself.

"What are your nightmares about?"

Regina coughed to cover up her shock over the question, "what nightmares?"

"Don't lie to me, please. You almost gave me a black eye so you're either having nightmares or somewhere deep in your subconscious you wanna beat the shit outta me, and I'm guessing it is the former."

Regina honestly didn't know what to say. She hadn't planned on sleeping last night just somewhere around 2 am her body had given in and when the sleep takes over she loses all control; something she didn't want to do around Emma.

"Talk to me please," Emma said as she rested her right hand on Reginas knee.

"I had one nightmare, there isn't anything to talk about."

 _Apart from the fact I dream about Greg and Tamara torturing me and eventually killing me,_  Regina thought to herself.

"Okay, maybe you don't want to talk right now, but please promise me... if it ever gets too much or you can't sleep, talk to me. I'm a good listener."

* * *

Around 12:30 pm Emma and Regina arrived back in the quaint little town of Storybrooke. The blonde drove straight to Granny's and picked up some chocolate frosted doughnuts for Henry and then headed to her parents apartment.

When they arrived the apartment was in chaos; David and Henry were shouting at each other over some video game, Neal was crying, Snow was flustered because she needed Davids help to soothe Neal whilst she tried not to burn their lunch.

"Emma please soothe Neal from crying while I take food out the oven," Snow shouted over all the noise.

Emma went straight to the cot and picked her brother up who stopped crying straight away when she spoke, "hey there, no need to cry."

Regina was left near the door, her presence not yet known by anyone but Emma. She considered slipping out the door but she really wanted to see Henry.

"No, no!" Henry shouted as he pressed random buttons on his console.

"Henry," Emma said as she walked over to where Regina was standing, "your mom has come to see you."

"Hey, mom," he said; his eyes never leaving the TV screen.

Snow walked from the kitchen and turned the TV off to which David and Henry groaned. "Dinner time. You're welcome to join us, Regina."

"I have som -" the brunette began.

"Sit and eat, Regina," Emma said. She passed Neal over to the brunette, "now you have my brother so you can't leave... unless you're gonna kidnap him."

* * *

Later that night, Regina lay in her bed. If she was being honest she missed the feeling of Emma laying beside her. In one night she had gotten used to the smell of the blonde, how the bed dipped whenever she moved during her sleep.

The brunette knew the inevitable was going to happen; she was going to fall asleep and the nighmares would begin like they did every night no matter how much she fought it.

Looking over to her clock she saw the time; 1:48 am. She thought about calling Emma, she remembered that she said they could talk if she couldn't sleep. She reached for her phone and began typing.

**Emma, did you mean it when you said we could talk? It's just I'm having trouble sleeping and you were right about the nightmares.**

The brunette battled with herself to whether she should send it... or delete it and write a new text message. She closed her eyes and pressed the send button and immediately regretted it.

30 seconds later and Reginas phone was ringing, "Hello?"

_"It's Emma."_

"Hi."

_"You said you couldn't sleep."_

"Yeah."

_"Nightmares?"_

"Yeah."

_"Are you going to answer with one word for this whole conversation?"_

"Sorry."

Emma laughed,  _"it's okay, Regina. Did you want me to come over or did you just want to talk over the phone?"_

"I don't mind."

_"I'll see you in 10 minutes then."_

Regina didn't care that she was in her pajamas, she didn't care that she looked like death. She just needed someone to talk to and right this moment it felt like Emma was the only person willing to do that.

The brunette headed down to her living room and made a fire before going to the kitchen and making some tea. Before she knew it Emma was knocking on the door and they were sat inches apart on the sofa drinking the tea Regina had made.

"You okay?" Emma asked.

"I... I don't know. I feel like I should be, but..." Regina tried to explain.

"I get it, I used to feel like that all the time."

"You did?"

"Yeah," the blonde said with a sad smile, "every time I went to a new foster home I felt like I should be happy but I knew deep inside that it wouldn't last for long so I kept myself from being happy and then always the inevitable happened and I was moved."

"I'm sorry."

"Why?"

"I feel responsible for your upbringing, if I hadn't..."

"Regina I'm going to stop you right there," Emma said, " _my parents_  put me through that wardrobe, not you. They didn't have to, but they did."

For a while the only sounds in the room was the crackling of the fire and the heaving breathing of Emma Swan, neither of the women knew how to approach the subject of Regina's nightmares.

Emma pulled her knees up and hugged them and caught Regina's eyes in a brief moment; in that moment she saw how much fear the chocolate eyes held, how much they wanted to close and go to sleep but the fear always lingered and stopped them. Emma couldn't help but stare at Regina; it was like in this very moment - despite her fear - she was the most beautiful woman alive.

"Emma?" Regina said when she caught the blonde staring, "Emma!"

"Wh- what did I miss?" she stuttered.

"I was just saying how it is getting late, you don't want to be late for work in the morning."

"Oh," Emma said, "I guess I should go."

The duo arose from their places on the sofa and Regina escorted Emma to the front door.

"Thank you for tonight, Emma."

"Anytime, I know we didn't actually talk about  _it_ , but I'm only a phone call away."

Emma leaned in closer to the brunette to hug her; their first hug. It sparked something inside Regina that made her feel like it was now or never.

"Please don't hate me," she said in a rushed whisper before pressing her plump lips against the Saviors.

At first Emma didn't understand what was happening, it felt like a dream... but then she grabbed the former Mayor by her waist and pulled her closer and their lips moved in sync. She didn't want this moment to end... in this one moment with Regina's lips against hers, Emma Swan felt complete.

When oxygen became a necessity to Regina, she broke the kiss to which Emma whimpered.

"You don't hate me for that?" she asked as she looked into the green eyes she loved so much.

"Far from it," Emma smiled, "can I kiss you again?"

The only answer Regina needed to give was to press her lips against Emma's once again, after a while Emma's tongue swiped across Regina's bottom lip and demanded entrance which she was happy to give. The kiss became more passionate and soon the blonde was feeling a certain urge, one she didn't want to act on so she broke the kiss.

"Sorry," she said breathlessly.

"Why'd you stop?"

"Because I want to do this properly and not take advantage of you."

"Okay."

"Dinner, tomorrow. I'll pick you up at 8."


	11. Chapter 11 || Day Eleven

Emma was woken by her alarm at precisely 8 am, but that didn't mean she got out of bed. Instead she stared at the ceiling and thought back to her kiss with Regina earlier that morning. The blonde couldn't stop thinking about how Regina actually felt something towards her, she had grown to think that any kind of relationship, apart from friendship, was impossible.

 _Shit!_ she thought when she realized that she had a date to plan; that got her out of the comforts of her own room.

She rushed down the steps into the living area, and only Henry was there and he was sitting at the kitchen island with a bowl of dry cereal.

"Morning, Ma," he said as he poured milk over his cereals.

"Where is everyone?" she asked as she sat down next to him.

"Gramps is on the early shift and Grandma took Neal out to calm him down."

"Pass the the cereal, kid."

"So where did you go last night?" the teen asked as he passed over the box to his younger mother.

"I didn't go anywhere?" she mumbled as she shoved the cereal into her mouth.

"Nice try, Ma. You went out around half 1 and didn't get back till 3 at least."

 _I was there over an hour?_ the blonde thought to herself.

"You want the truth?"

"Yeah."

"I went to see your mom."

Henry nearly spat his cereal out at what Emma had just said, there was a million and one places she could have been... so why was she there?

"Are you guys dating or something?" he joked.

Emma just shoved more cereal in her mouth, she didn't exactly know what was going on between her and Regina. They had kissed... twice. The blonde knew that what she felt towards the older woman was something more than friendship, and she was guessing Regina felt something similar. Neither of them had time to solidify what  _they_  were before Emma rushed off last night.

"You're dating?!" Henry gasped at his mothers silence.

"No! Kinda... I don't know, kid," Emma said.

"How can you not know if you're dating someone?"

"It's complicated, Henry," Emma sighed, "but I said I'd take her out for dinner tonight... I guess we can talk then."

"Dinner? Really? Where?"

"Yeah, I was going to take her to that Italian place across town, why?"

Henry laughed... the kid laughed and Emma had no idea why. God she was out of her depth.

"If you wanna date my mom, she's not going to be impressed with a place that she can clearly cook better than."

"Great... what do I do then?"

"I know exactly what you should do," the teen smirked.

"What?"

Henry looked to the clock for the time and smirked, "gotta go to school, sorry."

He grabbed his bag and coat before heading out the apartment and leaving a dumbfounded Emma. Great, now what should she do?

* * *

 

The day passed by slowly for Regina. She woke a little later than normal, but she carried out her normal routine. She made breakfast for herself, showered and got dressed then carried out little chores that needed doing around the house.

She was putting the second load of laundry in the dryer when she heard the doorbell rang. She set the dryer off before heading to her door to see who could be bothering her; she knew it couldn't be Henry as he was at school and the only other person who would visit her should be at work. When she opened the door, it revealed a smiling blonde.

"Hey," Emma beamed.

"Shouldn't you be at work?" she asked.

"This place'll survive without me as Sheriff for 10 minutes... may I come in?"

"Sure," Regina said as she stepped aside. The blonde walked past her and she caught a whiff of cinnamon; a scent she had come to label as Emma Swan. "So, what can I do for you?" she asked when she had closed the door.

Without a word, Emma invaded the brunettes space and pulled her flush against her own body. She pressed her own thin lips against Regina's plump ones in a chaste kiss.

"I've been waiting to do that all morning," Emma said when she broke the kiss, "so now all I want to know is if you are free tonight at 8?"

"Yes, Ms. Swan, I am," Regina said with a smile.

"Well, I'm taking you on a date, so be ready."

Regina placed a quick kiss on the blondes lips before saying, "am I ever late?"

"Well," she considered which earned her a playful punch on the arm and a scowl from the brunette.

Emma backed towards the door, leaving Regina stood in her foyer, "and none of those power suits or skin tight dresses, okay?"

The older woman folded her arms, "do you have something against my attire?"

"Nope, nothing... I mean your ass always looks great in those skirts, and your boobs... oh god -" Emma said.

"So why can't I wear what I like?" she asked interrupting the blonde

"Because for what we're doing you'll be uncomfortable, okay. Trust me, woman," she said before opening the door and exiting the mansion leaving a bewildered Regina.

"Okay then," she said to herself as she headed back to her chores.

The rest of the day passed slowly than the morning had, but all she could think about was the date Emma was taking her on. She hoped that she wouldn't be taking to her to that God-awful Italian place across town, that would ruin the night.

* * *

 

It was 7:47 pm in the Charming household. Henry was playing the newest update for his video game, David had gone out to get some dinner from Granny's and Snow had just settled Neal for the night. Emma came thudding down the stairs and skidded into the living area. She was wearing a white tank top with an unbuttoned black and white checked shirt with her favorite light blue wash jeans.

"Mom, do I look okay?" she asked.

Snow looked over her daughters attire, "you look fine, honey. I thought we were doing family night in our pajamas though."

 _Family night, fuck!_  Emma thought to herself. She had been so consumed in planning the perfect date for her and Regina that she had forgotten the plans she had made days before for family night.

"I'm sorry, I forgot. I've got plans."

"She's got a date," Henry said proudly as he took a quick break for a sip of his drink.

"Hook's taking you out?"

"Me and Hook were never a thing, Mom," Emma whined. "I'm going out with someone else."

"Who?"

"No one you know," the blonde said.

"My mom," Henry said at the same time.

Snows jaw dropped, she wasn't sure if she had just heard Henry right. "You're taking Regina on a date?!"

Charming walked into the apartment, the smell of take-out from Granny's instantly filled the apartment. "Who is taking Regina on a date?" he asked.

"Emma is."

"What?!"

"And you're problem is?"

"For one she's your -" Snow said.

"Nope, she's not. Any other excuses?"

Snow and Charming really didn't know what to say, they didn't know how to feel. Their daughter was taking her ex-enemy out on a date... that was one thing neither of them never saw coming.

"But what if she hurts you?" David asked.

"I'm a big girl now, I can look after myself."

"Okay, have a good night, Emma."

"Snow... you're okay with this?"

Snow looked over to her daughter, she saw something in her bright green eyes. It was a look she had seen once before... long before the curse broke. It was how she looked at herself in the mirror when her and David were secretly seeing each other. It was an uncertain look, one that was unsure of what she was doing was right or wrong... but in the same look the wearer didn't care, they just wanted happiness.

"All I want is for Emma to have her happy ending, and if her happy ending lies with Regina then I will have to learn to accept it... and you should too, David."

"Thanks, Mom," Emma smiled.

The blonde looked to the clock which read 7:56 pm. She had four minutes to speed through Storybrooke and get to Regina house... she was going to be late, it was inevitable.

* * *

 

Regina had been sitting in her kitchen for the last half an hour, she had somehow got herself to believe that Emma would be early but as the minutes ticked by that hope was lost. When 8 pm came around the brunette began to tell herself that Emma was joking about the date, that she didn't really want to go out with her.

But when a knock on the door came at 8:04 pm, all doubt was lost. She near enough sprinted to the door, and when she opened it she saw a slightly breathless blonde.

"Sorry... I'm late," she said in between deep breaths

Emma looked over Regina's outfit; she wore skin tight dark wash jeans, an off-white off-the-shoulder jumper and she had her black pea-coat in her hand.

"You look good," Emma said, "but those heels need to go."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

"Let me have the heels, please," she said. "I'm so small without them."

"Fine, but bring socks," the blonde smiled. She suddenly remembered the bunch of flowers that she had set down on the floor, so she bent down to pick them up, "and these are for you," she added as she gave the multi-colored roses to Regina.

The older woman took the bunch of flowers and inhaled their scent, "these are beautiful, Emma, thank you. Come in while I set them in some water."

Emma closed the front door behind her followed the brunette into the kitchen. She watched as she got a vase and filled it up with water before trimming the stems of the roses and setting them individually into the vase. The younger woman found the task endearing, yes it was something that most women did in their lifetime but for Emma to see Regina do something that simple made her heart flutter.

"Ready?" Regina said snapping Emma out of her day-dream.

"Yeah, come on."

Emma grabbed Regina's hand and held it all the way to her yellow Bug. She opened the car door for her date and then climbed into the drivers side. She put the car into gear and began driving to their destination.

"Are you going to tell me where we are going?" Regina asked.

"Nope."

The rest of the journey was short but it happened in silence. A mere 15 minutes later and they were pulling up outside Storybrooke's only bowling center.

"Bowling?" Regina asked as she got out the car, "it explains the socks at least."

"I love bowling!" Emma said excitedly as they walked into the building, "how can you not love bowling?"

"How can you love something you've never done?" Regina asked.

Emma turned to the teen behind the counter, "Got a lane booked under Swan, anf you'll love it, Gina.

"Okay, what size shoes do you guys want?" the teen asked.

Emma took her boots off and handed them to the girl before motioning for Regina to do the same. When the brunette took her heels off her size decreased by a few inches and Emma could see why she wore heels most of the time; she was tiny.

"Size 8 and a half for me, please and and an 8 for Regina," Emma said

The teen took the shoes off the off the counter and found a pair of blue, white and red bowling shoes and then handed them to the couple.

"You're on lane 10," she smiled. She handed a few vouchers over to Emma, "and you can use these tonight seen as you booked in advance."

"Thanks," Emma said as she flicked through the papers. "Oo, free food."

The women walked over to their respective lane and put their shoes on, much to Reginas distaste. Emma entered their names onto the computer and then they began playing.

"So I just throw it?" Regina asked as she picked up a purple ball with both hands.

"Come here, let me show you."

Emma took the older womans hand and guided her fingers to where they should be. "You hold it like that, then swing your arm back and bowl it forwards," she explained.

Regina furrowed her eyebrows as she took in the information. This game seemed pointless to her, but if Emma said she like it then she would try... and try she did. She followed the instructions that Emma had given her... and she missed, her ball went into the gutter.

"I missed," she said. "Why did I miss?"

"Your ball had a bit of a curve, but it's your first time, you're bound to miss a few."

"So you bought me on a date to beat me?" the older woman joked.

They carried on playing their game and then they had another game after that. They enjoyed snacking on items from the small shop and they even had a few drinks between them. In the end they had both won a game each, even though Regina tried to use magic to make sure she never missed... she still did.

"So did you enjoy it?" Emma asked as they were walking out the building.

"It was better than sitting in some stuffy restaurant eating crappy food," Regina smiled.

"Come on, there's something I've always wanted to do," Emma said as they got to her car.

"I guess I'm being left in the dark about our destination once again, dear," Regina said as she sat in the passenger seat.

"Well if I told you'd never come."

"Try me."

"Okay, swimming at night."

"Dear, I am not going in the sea when it's cold out, we'll freeze."

"Who said anything about the sea?" Emma said as she started driving.

It took a few moment for Regina to catch on to what Emma was suggesting, but a sign that pointed towards Storybrooke's only public swimming pool told her everything.

"We're breaking into the swimming pool?"

"Not really breaking in when you have the keys," the blonde smirked as she pulled into the car park.

"I don't have a costume to wear."

"Neither do I."

Emma dragged the brunette over to the doors and unlocked them. She held the brunettes hand as they walked over to the outside pool, "live a little, Mills."

"Fine.. fine," she said, "but you asked for it, Swan, don't say I didn't warn you."

"Okay," Emma said but before she could form another word she was falling towards the blue water.

Regina stood on the side with a smirk on her face and waited for the blonde to come back to the surface, and when she did the look on Emma's face was priceless.

"Payback from yours and Henry's little plan," she husked. "And for letting me win in that second game, I could have beat your ass anyway."

Emma pulled herself out of the pool and all her clothes stuck to her, "I hate you," she shivered. "But now you gotta go in, it's only fair."

"No you don't, and I know," she smiled.

Purple smoke surrounded the brunette and when it cleared she was clothed in a black bikini. Emma's eyes nearly bulged out her head at the sight, the bottoms hugged Regina's ass perfectly and with the top... well nothing was left to her imagination.

"So you get a costume and I don't, not fair, Mills," Emma said.

"Do you want a costume?" she asked, but before the blonde could answer purple smoke clouded her vision, and when it dispersed the cold hit her body.

Emma looked down at her own body and saw a white bikini covering her, the style was similar to the older woman's but there was a small bow on either side of her hips keeping the fabric in place. The blonde then did a perfect dive into the water without a word to the woman beside her, but Regina sat down on the edge of the pool and just let her legs into the water.

"Not coming in?" Emma asked when she resurfaced for the second time that night.

"I will... just give me a minute," the brunette said as she stared at her feet in the water.

Emma swam over to where Regina was sitting and positioned herself between her legs with her arms on the brunettes thighs. "Talk to me," she said, she tried to catch the older woman's eyes, but her gaze was elsewhere.

"I'm fine... it's stupid," she said with a small laugh.

"Regina, look at me."

The brunette bit her bottom lip and shook her head, her muddy eyes avoiding bright green ones. Emma hauled herself out the pool and sat beside her. She took the former Mayors chin in her hand and forced Regina to look at her dead in the eyes.

"Talk to me, please," she whispered. "Maybe I can help."

Regina pressed her forehead against Emma's and sighed, "I'm scared, Swan," she said, "you've got to make a decision in less than a week and I'm scared that you'll go and I'll be heartbroken once again."

"Who says I haven't already made my choice?" Emma replied, "who says I haven't already chosen?"

For the first time since they had been at the pool, green eyes met brown ones. Emma saw something glistening in the other woman's eyes, what it was she couldn't be sure but all she knew was that the woman in front of her, the woman she was falling for, needed reassurance so Emma did the only thing she could. She pressed her lips against Regina's; she poured her love for the other woman into the kiss, salty tears from Regina mixed into the kiss and in that moment the older woman was so sure that Emma had chosen her... her and Henry, their little family.


	12. Chapter 12 || Day Fourteen

Like every other day around lunch time, a certain blonde made her way to Granny's Diner for her usual order; except this time was different. Instead of eating her lunch with Ruby while she was on her own lunch break, she ordered a chicken salad and two waters alongside her own order to take out. Of course there was questions from Ruby, but Emma managed to get away unscathed from all them all.

She climbed into her bug and drove over to the mayoral mansion with the dinners on her passenger seat. When she arrived, she let herself in and found a certain brunette sitting in her favorite chair reading a book.

"Hey, I brought food," Emma said as she held up the brown back with Granny's logo on the front.

Regina rested her book on her lap and smiled, "how nice of you, dear, as long as I don't have one of those awful grilled cheeses that you are always eating."

"I made that mistake once, Regina, so I got you a chicken salad with dressing on the side."

Regina smiled as she set her book down on the seat next to her, and then they both made their way to the dining table where they ate their dinner in a comfortable silence. They occasionally talked about Henry and how he was doing at school, but other than that nothing came up. Soon they had both finished their lunch and it was nearing 1:30 pm and Emma had to get back to work.

Emma opened the front door to let her self out and Regina followed her, but before Emma could leave the property she was making her way back towards Regina.

"I forgot to ask you something, so I'm going to ask you now before I wuss out," she rambled.

"Go ahead," the brunette said as she lent against the door frame with her arms crossed.

"So Ruby asked me to go to girls night tonight and I said yes," she explained, "and then Mary-Margaret somehow convinced me to ask you, so here I am asking you."

"Okay, I'll come" Regina said.

"But I know it isn't really your thing, so if you don't -"she rambled.

"Emma, dear, I said I'll come."

"You did?"

"Yes, you were to busy rambling away to notice."

"I was?"

"Yes. Now what time shall I be ready? And where will Henry be staying?"

Emma smiled, "girls night starts at 7, so I will pick you and the kid up at 6:30 and he can stay at my parents for the night."

* * *

Ruby, Belle, Mary-Margaret and Tink were all gathered round a table in the Rabbit Hole, they had agreed to meet Emma and Regina there. They were all on their second round of drinks before the couple showed up hand in hand around 7:15 pm.

"How are you always late, Swan?" Ruby asked.

"I guess it's just one of the many talents that I have, eh," the blonde retorted as she sat in the booth next to her friend.

"Hello, Regina," Tink said as the brunette said next to Emma. "How are you?

"I need a drink," she sighed. "What do you want, Emma?"

"Beer please," the blonde said with a smile.

Regina walked over to the bar with Tink trailing her, she quickly ordered the drinks and waited.

"What's wrong?" the blonde Australian asked.

"Nothing, I just really need to forget something from earlier."

"Are you and Emma fighting?"

They had only been seeing each other a few days, but the news had spread through the small town like fire. Emma wasn't bothered about people knowing about their relationship - if you could even call it that at this point - but Regina wanted to keep it quiet, she wanted to get to know the Emma Swan that wore sweatpants and wore glasses when she was snuggled on the sofa watching a film with Henry. She wanted to be them before everyone else knew, and that was proving difficult.

"It's nothing to do with you, Tink," Regina said a little too harshly before picking up her drinks and heading back to the group.

As the night went on, the group got drunker and drunker. They had shot after shot much to Mary-Margaret's distaste, but still she went along with the crowd. The group of five were now in the middle of the dance-floor dancing along to a song with a heavy but fast beat; the only one who wasn't dancing was Regina as she stayed in the booth they had all claimed earlier on in the night.

Emma walked over to the booth where her girlfriend was sat alone, "come 'nd dance, 'gina," she slurred.

"No."

"Why?"

"Because, that's why."

"Please," the blonde whined.

"Emma, I can't."

"Why?"

"I can't because I don't know how," she said. After the words had escaped from her mouth she looked to the floor in embarrassment, her cheeks flushed red but she could blame that on how hot it was in this damn place.

"I don't know how to either," Emma laughed, "come on, we can figure this out together."

Emma pried the wine glass from Regina's fingers and took her hand in her own, she led the brunette to the dance-floor and they made their way into the middle so that they were surrounded by others. Emma started to move her feet and hips along to the beat but Regina stayed still.

"Look at Ruby," Emma said as she pointed to the brunette at the other side of the room.

Regina stared at how she moved to the beat and then looked back to Emma with an expression of shock and fear.

"Okay, bad example," the blonde admitted. She placed her hands on either side of Regina's hip and started moving them side to side against their own free will, "keep moving them like that," the blonde instructed.

Regina kept her hips moving in the same motion Emma had set them to when Ruby and Belle came bouncing over to the couple.

"You need to move your feet, Reggie," Ruby said as she grabbed the older woman's hand and started waving it about, "and your arms, don't be so rigid."

"Call me Reggie again and you'll walk out of here will your tail between your legs, Red," she snapped.

"Regina!" Belle and Emma said at the same time.

"Sorry," she said before walking away towards the exit of the club.

Emma sighed and shook her head before leaving her friends and going after the other woman. She found Regina sitting on a bench a block away from the Rabbit Hole shivering from the cold, and she sat down next to her without saying a word.

"I'm sorry, Emma," Regina said; her voice was so small and Emma had never heard her speak with so much sincerity.

"You don't need to be sorry -" the blonde began.

"I do. I- I'm just not used to this," she said, "I'm not used to friends, dancing... to us."

"I should be the one who is sorry, Regina, I should never have asked you to come. I had a feeling it would be too soon for you, but I ignored my instincts and.. well here we are."

"Emma, can I ask you something? It might sound stupid, but -"

"Nothing you can say to me will be stupid."

"Remember the night we first kissed? And you said you didn't want to take advantage of me?"

"Yeah?"

"Why did you say that? Do you not want me in  _that_ way?"

"No... oh, Regina. I want you in every way possible, I always have. I just wanted to take you on a date or something, I've had relationships that have started with sex and... well they didn't end well, and I don't want that to happen between us."

"Take me home, Swan," the brunette said softly.

Emma went back inside the Rabbit Hole and grabbed Regina's bag and coat and said goodbye to her friends before going back out to the older woman. The walk back to the mayoral mansion was short and cold, but it sobered the two women up. They didn't talk about much, they just enjoyed each others company; it was something they were good at as a couple, they were able to be in each others presence without having to fight for conversation.

"Good night, Regina," Emma said before pressing a kiss to her cheek.

The blonde turned around to leave, but Regina grabbed her wrist to stop her, "and where do you think you're going?"

"Home?" she answered.

"Stay... stay with me tonight, Emma," she smiled.

"Are you sure?" Emma said as she followed the older woman into the darkness of the foyer.

Regina flipped a switch and the lights illuminated the house, she pulled the other woman flush against her own body, "just kiss me already."

Emma brought their lips together and soon their tongues were playing out a familiar dance they that both knew all too well. When air became a problem to the blonde, she pulled away.

"Are you sure you want this?" she asked.

The woman in her arms bit her bottom lip and nodded, "I want you."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was more of a filler chapter then anything, but I was also going to add some smut at the end but I decided not to. I have it all written up, so if you guys wanted me to post it I can.  
> Hope you enjoyed the new chapter, I'd love to hear what you think.  
> ~ Beth


	13. Chapter 13 || Day Fourteen Continued

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: So I've just come home from work, it's like 3 am in England, and I've seen that y'all want the smut... so here it is. I will warn that this is the first piece of smut I have ever written and published... so if it's crap I am sorry. Enjoy my lovelies, until the next time :)

Emma brought their lips together and soon their tongues were playing out a familiar dance that they both knew all to well. When air became a problem to the blonde she pulled away.

"Are you sure you want this?" she asked.

The woman in her arms bit her bottom lip and nodded, "I want you."

Once again their lips met in a fiery passion. Emma's hands roamed over the clothes body with the desperate need to touch the tanned flesh as she pushed Regina to the nearest wall. The blonde lifted the older woman up the wall and she responded by wrapping her legs around the slim waist, causing the form-fitting black dress that Regina had been wearing to rise up to her own waist.

The former Queen moved her head to the side to give Emma better access to attack her pulse point; the blonde sucked on the delicate skin before running her tongue along the new mark to soothe it.

Emma knew that if she didn't move this to the bedroom, then there was a very high chance of her taking Regina in the foyer, so she placed one hand on the brunettes ass and the other on the small of her back; she used all of her strength to carry the other woman to her own bedroom. As soon as she moved, Regina attacked the blondes sensitive skin on her neck in payback for the mark on her own delicate skin.

Halfway up the stairs, Emma realized that she had never even seen the inside of Regina's bedroom, that made her nervous somehow but nevertheless she climbed the stairs and headed towards the master bedroom. When she entered the room Regina unwrapped her legs from around the blondes waist and stepped out of her heels.

"You couldn't have done that downstairs?" Emma said breathlessly as she stepped out her own shoes.

With a flick of her wrist, Regina managed to use magic to strip both of them from any clothing, "now kiss me," she demanded.

Emma pressed her lips against Regina's and immediately demanded entrance into her mouth. She pushed the other woman towards her bed and when the backs of Regina's knees met the end of the bed she fell onto her back which broke the kiss. The brunette shuffled up the bed and rested against the plush pillows at the top of the bed.

The younger woman crawled up the bed with a look of lust and a hint of love; that look alone sent a whole new kind of heat to Regina's core. Emma kissed her way up Regina's body before capturing plump lips for a brief moment before turning her attention to the older woman's breasts.

She took the left nipple into her mouth and sucked whilst using her hand to massage the other breast; her actions caused Regina to moan. After a few moments she turned her attention to the opposite breast. Once again, the blonde placed kisses down the older woman's toned stomach before reaching her core that was coated in wetness.

Emma took in the scent and stored it in her memory; what she was smelling was pure Regina and oh, how she loved it. The blonde coated her fingers in the liquid and ran them between the folds, Regina's hips jerked at the motion and the tanned woman whined at the loss of contact when Emma removed her fingers.

The Sheriff lowered her head in between toned thighs and placed kisses on either leg before attaching her lips to the bundle of nerves earning yet another moan from Regina; the blonde was beginning to love the sounds that the former Mayor made, it sent waves of heat to her own core to know that she was making the woman feel so good.

Without abandoning the bundle of nerves, Emma pushed one fingers into Regina's entrance without warning, Regina grabbed a fistful of blonde hair to make sure that the contact was not lost. After a few seconds she added a second finger and when Regina had adjusted to the intrusion she added a third. She could tell the older woman was getting close so she pulled her fingers out and leaned up to kiss the brunette.

"E- Emma... please," she said breathlessly.

"What do you want me to do, Regina?" the blonde said playfully.

"P- please," she whined.

"Tell me Regina, what do you want me to do? she said in between kisses along a prominent collarbone.

"Fuck me," she said, "please, fuck me."

When the last words had left the brunettes lips, Emma pushed all three fingers back into Regina. Emma curled her fingers and hit the very spot that Regina knew would send her spiraling over the edge, and soon she did.

"O- Oh God... fuck, Emma!" she panted as she came.

Emma helped the older woman to ride out her orgasm and when she pulled her fingers out of the throbbing core, she licked them clean before kissing Regina. The brunette could taste herself on Emma's lips, and it was like something she had never tasted before. Emma lowered herself next to Regina and threw her arm over the other woman's waist.

The couple lay there in the bed with the moonlight dancing over their bodies; tonight had been perfect for both of them. Soon they both drifted off into a deep sleep dreaming of a future together.


	14. Chapter 14 || Day Sixteen

When Henry woke up from his slumber, he knew exactly what day it was. It was the day before his younger mother, Emma, chose between staying in Storybrooke or leaving like she had wanted to almost two weeks ago. Both he and Regina had been planning and scheming ways to make Emma feel included in what they did, they did everything they could to make her feel loved.

The teen dragged himself from the comforts of his bed and followed the smell of bacon and pancakes to the kitchen, and to his surprise there stood Emma.

"Why are you cooking, Ma?" he asked sleepily.

Emma turned to her son and smiled, "your Mom is still asleep, I'm hungry and I'm guessing you are too."

"Just don't burn the place down, or start a food fight... I'm not cleaning anything up."

Emma carried on cooking the bacon and making a decent sized stack of pancakes. She got the syrup from it's rightful place and then sat besides Henry whilst they ate.

"So what are you doing on your break, kid?" she asked with a mouth full of pancakes.

"I dunno, play video games, driving lessons, hanging out with you -"

"No lessons, kid, maybe in a year or two," Emma said. "But if you do want lessons then my Bug is the best car for you," she added with a smirk.

"If Henry is going to learn how to drive then it will not be in your monstrosity of a car, Emma," Regina said making the duo jump. "And I hope there is some breakfast left for me or I'm not going to be happy."

Emma slid from her seat and took a plate of pancakes that had been left in their to stay warm before handing them to the brunette, "good morning to you too, Regina."

Regina placed a chaste kiss on thin lips much to the disgust of Henry who moaned that he should not have to see his mothers kissing, to which Emma told him that he'd have to deal with it and kissing the brunette again just to tease him.

"Well, I'm going to work but I'll be back around 5," Emma said as she pulled her red leather jacket on over her white tank top.

"Are you guys.. like gonna kiss or something, because if you are I'm leaving," the boy complained.

Emma placed a chaste kiss on Regina's lips before leaving the mayoral mansion for a day of sitting around doing nothing. When she heard the front door click shut, Regina magicked a piece of paper with writing on.

"What's that Mom?" Henry asked.

"The end of Operation Cheetah."

Henry sighed, "because Ma might leave tomorrow."

"Yes. Now I know we are the only ones who know she might leave, but I want to throw her a little party. We can invite everyone she knows."

The teen took the piece of paper from his older mother and studied it. It had guests, party items, food... everything that they needed to do.

"When is it?" he asked.

"Tonight. Think we can do it?" she asked.

"Hell yeah," he replied a little too enthusiastically.

* * *

 

Emma's day had consisted of paperwork, drinking coffee, arresting two teens for graffiti-ing in the park, more coffee and more paperwork. When 12:30 pm hit, she thought she could go and see Regina and Henry during her lunch hour but when she called asking what they wanted from Granny's, Regina had acted weird and said they had already eaten. She further asked whether she could come and eat her lunch with them but the brunette had said they were busy, so the blonde had settled for eating her dinner with Ruby.

After her lunch break the day had dragged slowly but the pile of paperwork she needed to complete was going down. She prayed for time to speed up so she could leave at 4 and head back to Regina's. The next two and a half hours were spent purely thinking about the woman in her life and the decision that she was being forced to make the next day.

When she had thought about it over the past two weeks, some days she had been 100% sure on her decision but then Henry or Regina would show up and they would do something together and it had made her re-think everything. She also thought about what it would have been like if she had just drove off that night and left Regina standing in the middle of the road; would she be happy? Would she miss the town? Would she miss Henry? Would she have missed Regina?

The blonde had been so engrossed in thinking about the next day and her small family that she didn't see Sean walk in the station ready for the night shift.

"Emma, you can go," he said when she still hadn't realized he was there.

The blonde look up from her work and smiled, "thanks, Sean. Anything major happens, call me on my cell, yeah?"

"Sure," he smiled.

She gathered her red jacket, car keys and beanie hat before heading to her bug and driving back to Regina's home. When she arrived it was 4:26 pm but there was no sign of the black Benz on the driveway so she pulled out her phone and dialed the brunettes number.

 _"Emma?"_  Regina answered straight away.

"Hey, Regina, are you or Henry in?" she asked.

_"Sorry, dear, we're still out."_

"Okay," the blonde said, she tried her hardest not to sound deflated, "can I come round later?"

The blonde could hear Regina asking their son something but it was muffled so she couldn't make out any of the words, but she was sure that they were keeping something from her... or maybe she was just being paranoid.

_"Why don't you come round for breakfast in the morning, me and Henry are going to be back later than expected."_

"Okay."

 _"I've got to go, I'll see you in the morning,"_  Regina said before ending the call.

"Goodbye to you too," Emma said to her cell before throwing it on the passenger seat.

The blonde turned the engine to her Bug on and headed to her parents apartment, on the way she thought about what Regina could possibly be keeping from her. She thought back to their first date when they were at the pool; she remembered how worried Regina was about getting her heartbroken again.

 _Maybe she is just keeping her distance,_ the blonde thought to herself.  _I wouldn't blame her._

"Hey, Mom," she said as she plopped down on the sofa after letting herself into the apartment.

"How have you been?" the brunette asked as she fed Neal.

"I'm tired, and I'm pretty sure Henry and Regina are keeping something from me... but hey, what's new?"

"I'm sure everything will be okay," Mary-Margaret smiled.

Emma hadn't been in the apartment for more than half an hour before her parents were heading out for a walk and she was left all alone. She decided to shower and get the stench of the Sheriff's station from her body. A mere 20 minutes later and Emma was dressing in an over sized off-white jumper and leggings with her semi-dry hair hanging over her shoulders, she sat in her usual spot on the sofa and started flicking through the channels.

A sudden ringing of her cell phone bought Emma back from the world of television, "hey," she answered without looking at the caller ID.

 _"Emma, it's Sean. Something has been found on the beach, it doesn't look good,"_  he explained.

"Okay, I'm on my way, I'll be there in 5."

She put some thigh-high black boots and and got her black leather jacket, keys and phone before heading towards the Bug. Nothing major usually happened in Storybrooke, but when something did pop up it was usually a villain threatening to destroy all their lives. She arrived to the car park of the beach and saw Sean standing next to the cruiser.

"What's up?" she asked when she saw him.

He immediately started walking to the steps that lead to the beach, "it's best if I just show you," he said.

The duo head down the steps that were lit by a single street light and onto the beach.

"I don't see anything Sean," Emma said, but when she looked round she saw that the man had disappeared. "Sean?" she shouted.

That's when bright lights blinded the blonde and a loud shouting of 'surprise' made her jump out her skin. When her eyes had adjusted to the light, she could see all her friends and family - Sean included - standing in front of her.

"W- what's this for?" she asked.

Regina stood forward from the crows with a smile,"it's all for you my dear, it's something from the whole town to show you how much we appreciate you."

Deep down Emma knew the real reason for this party and she was desperately hoping that Regina hadn't told anyone about the decision she had to make tomorrow. This party was for Henry and Regina to say goodbye to the blonde.

Everyone who had shouted surprise - even her parents - were now chatting and helping themselves to the food that had been laid out on various tables.

"Why are you doing this?" Emma asked. "I love it.. I really do, but why?"

"Because tomorrow you have to choose, Emma," the brunette explained as she locked her arms around the blondes neck, "and I would hate it if you went without getting to say bye to your friends."

"I look gross though," she whined.

"You look perfect," Regina said before leaning in to kiss the blonde.

The couple re-joined the crowd and what a party it was. There was a big bonfire that was lit courtesy of one of Regina's fireballs and the wood that Henry had collected throughout the day, good food and good company. Every time Emma spoke to one of her friends, her heart ached at the thought of never seeing them again. Tonight was one of the nights where she was conflicted; on the one hand she could stay, she could be with the parents she had searched for for so long, Henry and Regina... she could have her family. Or on the other hand she could be free of all the fairy-tale bullshit and live a relatively normal life in Boston or New York.

Now, a few hours and many beers later, the blonde was sitting on a blanket near the bonfire nursing a bottle of beer with Regina sat between her legs. They had been silent for a while and were just enjoying the presence of each other.

"What're you thinking about, Swan?" she asked.

"Tomorrow," Emma said, "I was so sure of what I wanted to do that night, but now... now I'm too scared to choose."

"What do you mean,  _mi querida_?"

"You're talking to me in Spanish now?" Emma said with a laugh.

"I'm sorry," the brunette said.

"I like it," the blonde smiled.

Regina sat up and turned to face Emma, "It sounds cliche and dumb coming from an Evil Queen who made many rash decisions, but you need to choose feels right from your heart. If your heart is telling you to go then I can't stop you, Emma, I wouldn't."

"And here I was thinking you'd be begging me to stay."

"I don't beg,  _mi querida_."

When everyone started to leave, Emma knew she had to say some form of goodbye to her parents; they deserved that at least, but she didn't know how. Before her parents could leave, she pulled them both in for a hug and mumbled something along the lines of a thank you and sorry, but Snow and David didn't pay much attention to the mumbling's of their tipsy daughter.

"Meet you for breakfast in Granny's?" Snow asked, "you can bring Regina and Henry along too."

"Sure," Emma said; she forced a smile along with her words.

"Is everything okay?" David asked.

"Yeah, I'm going to stay at Regina's tonight."

"We figured, we'll see you in the morning, Emma," David smiled.

Emma watched as her parents walked away, she wondered if they would notice that half of her belongings were gone; they were of course packed up in the bug in case she was leaving... she couldn't face them if she was.

"Ready to go,  _hijo_?" Regina asked Henry who responded with a nod.

The tired teen had been ready to leave for the past half an hour, but with promises of a hot chocolate and cinnamon when they got home had agreed to stay for a while longer.

"You best not be lying about that hot chocolate, Mom."

"Go get Emma and we can all go home."

Regina watched as her son walked across the sands to where Emma had just been talking to her parents, when Emma saw Henry she pulled him in for a crushing hug; then she remembered... Henry wasn't supposed to know about Emma leaving, he was supposed to be oblivious to it all yet his world could come crashing down tomorrow morning.

* * *

 

"Is the kid asleep?" Emma asked when Regina walked into the bedroom.

They had got back from the party and Regina had made them all hot chocolates which they drank in from of the TV, then it was time for Henry to go to bed. Emma had been dreading going to sleep because she knew what she had to decide in the morning; question was could she break Regina's heart or not?

"Yes, out light a light," Regina smiled.

The brunette climbed into her bed besides Emma and wrapped her arm around the blondes waist, resting her head on her chest.

"Have you packed?" Regina asked, her voice barely more than a whisper.

"Yeah."

"Does that mean you're leaving?"

"I don't know," Emma replied with a sigh, "I still don't know."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next chapter will of course be Emma's decision, but then I am still deciding whether I should should either do an epilogue or two? Comment your thoughts, until the next time!  
> All spelling mistakes have been sorted.. I don't know Spanish at all and I used Google Translate for help, once again sorry for the mistakes.


	15. Chapter 15 || Decision Day

When Emma awoke that morning she wasn't well rested. She had spent most of the night laid wide awake thinking and listening to the soft snores of Regina, in all she had probably had about two hours of decent sleep. Everything had changed since that night, two weeks and three days ago her choice was so simple... but now, everything had changed

The blonde turned on her side and stared at the sleeping face of the older woman beside her, she was so peaceful. Emma wanted to wake her up, she wanted to talk but she couldn't bring herself to do it. So instead, she slipped out of the bed and gathered her clothes. She got dressed as quietly as she could, and before she left she took the folded envelope from the inside of her jacket and placed it on the pillow besides Regina.

As she crept through the house, she took one last look inside Henry's room. The teen was sprawled out on his twin bed with the covers half on him, so the blonde took the chance to pull the blue sheets over him.

"I'm sorry, kid," she whispered as she placed the second envelope on his nightstand. "I love you."

* * *

 

Regina sleepily reached over to cuddle the other body that was supposed to beside her yet all she was met with was cold sheets that had been vacant for some time. Her brown eyes shot open and they immediately landed on the white envelope with her name scrawled on the front. She ripped it open and her eyes scanned through the words;

_Regina,_   
_If you're reading this then my choice is obvious, just know that I never intended to hurt you; I could never do that and if I have, I am so sorry._   
_For a while, you and Henry were the best thing that had ever happened to be but soon everything got too much and as you know, I run. The past two weeks have been amazing, spending time with you and the kid has been amazing. Getting to know the Regina Mills behind the stoic Mayor and former Queen was the best part of it all. I also know that you told Henry, I heard you two talking the first day I gave him guitar lessons; I don't blame you though._   
_I know I wasn't there for the first ten years of his life, and despite everything you did such a good job with him and I'll never be able to thank you enough for that. You raised an intelligent, polite young man, something I would have struggled with; just keep the card stealing to a minimum, eh?_   
_Thank you for everything, Regina. Just tell my parents that it isn't their fault... it isn't any ones but my own._   
_Yours forever, Emma Swan._

When she had finished reading, she had tears rolling down her cheeks and that's when she saw the photo's in the envelope. They were from when they went to the fair together, they ended up in a photo booth and despite her unwillingness to act silly in the photo's the stubborn blonde had some how got her to go along with it. That day was probably the best day she had with the blonde, and the memories were something she would never forget

"Is Ma gone?" he asked frantically as he barged into her room without knocking. "Did she leave you a letter?"

Regina waved the piece of paper slightly to answer one of her sons questions, she was too afraid to speak because she was sure that if she did, she could cry harder and it would be impossible to stop. The answer to the other was obvious, but some how not saying it out loud made it seem like a dream; a painful dream.

"She can't leave without saying bye, Mom, can we find her please?" Henry begged, "please, Mom!"

The sound of her son sobbing brought Regina back to reality, she patted the space beside her to instruct her son to climb onto the bed. He may be a teen, but right now he needed her and she needed him. They sat there for a while, both with silent tears wetting their cheeks.

"I know you love her, Mom," Henry said, his voice cracking. "She loves you too."

"I know, hijo, I know," she said softly.

"Can you use your magic to find her?" he asked, "I know you can sense magic."

Henry was right... she could. But she wasn't sure if she could face the blonde, whether it would be too painful for her.

"Okay, I'm not promising anything though, she may have already left town," she said.

"Please try."

* * *

 

Emma sat in her yellow Bug at the town line, she had been sitting here for more than half an hour. She knew she wanted to leave, but something in her was stopping her foot from stepping on the gas pedal and driving.

She sipped the coffee from the travel mug she had made before leaving Regina. She clicked the lock button on her phone to see the time; 6:30 am. She knew Regina would be awake now, she would have read the letter... she would have seen the pictures.

She looked up to her rear view mirror and saw purple smoke dispersing, and a knock on the car window made her jump.

"Please don't leave," Henry said.

_Oh God,_  she thought, she hadn't prepared for this.

Emma climbed out of her car and she was crushed by Henry with a hug. Out the corner of her eye and she saw Regina where the cloud of smoke had appeared, she was hugging her own waist.

"Why do you have to leave?" Henry asked. "What about my Mom?"

Emma knelt down in front of the teen and looked up to him, "I'm sorry, Henry. I really am, but I gotta go."

"You know that Mom loves you, right."

"I know," she replied, her voice barely above a whisper. "I love her too."

"Then why leave? We could be a family."

"I know, and I'd love that more than anything. But Storybrooke is too much for me, kid."

Emma looked over to Regina who was still standing in the same place, she offered the other woman a warm smile.

"Gimme a sec with your Mom, okay?" she said to Henry.

She walked over to Regina and spoke softly, "hi."

"Hi," the brunette replied.

Emma pulled Regina flush against her own body and hugged her, but Regina didn't respond. One arm hung by her side but the other was pressed against Emma's chest; she could feel the slow heartbeat of the other woman. Regina did all she could to remain stoic, but it was the hardest thing she could try to do.

"I'm sorry, Regina. I really am, I never meant to hurt you," the blonde whispered.

"I... I-" Regina tried to speak, but the words got stuck in her throat.

"I know, I do too."

"Please don't go," Regina whispered when she stood away from Emma's embrace.

The idea of leaving Regina and Henry, the two people she loved most in the world, was painful.

"So... come with me to New York, we can all go," Emma suggested.

To Regina the idea sounded tempting. She could leave Storybrooke, it wasn't like she was the Mayor anymore. Her, Emma and Henry could have a fresh start in the city. She had her savings from her time as they Mayor... they could do this? Right?


	16. Chapter 16 || 4 Years Later

"Okay, Henry, time for school," Regina said as she opened the curtains.

The now 15 year old squirmed in his bed and pulled the covers over his head, "5 more minutes, Mom," he whined.

"You said that 10 minutes ago, do I have to drag you out?"

Henry sat up and dragged himself to the kitchen; the smell of breakfast made getting up a little easier.

"Why isn't, Ma up yet? That's not fair," he said as he sat at the table.

"She was up all night with Alaina," Regina said as she picked the 3 month old baby from her play pen, "so she deserves a lay in. Now eat your breakfast or you'll be late for school."

Henry ate his breakfast as Regina fed the baby her morning feed. Soon Emma's bare feet were leading her to her small family. She took her seat next to Regina and tucked into her own breakfast.

Soon Henry was heading to meet his friends on the way to school, but Emma and Regina stayed home to take care of Alaina.

"You know what today is, right?" Emma said.

"I have a feeling Mommy is going to remind us, eh?" Regina said in a baby voice as she tickled Alaina.

The small family could remember that day like it happened yesterday. The choice wasn't hard for Regina, nor Henry, and neither of them regretted the choice that they had made. Today marked the anniversary of their choice, and so much had happened in four years but no one would change a thing.

* * *

Two months after they had left, Henry was in school and Regina had found a part-time job in a coffee shop, but one day Emma ended up in hospital after a job went wrong.

_Regina sat in the waiting room of the hospital, no one had told her what had happened... no one told her if Emma would be okay. Two hours ago she had received a call from Jamie - Emma's boss - that she had been shot during a job. Regina dropped everything at the coffee shop she had been working at and got a taxi straight to the hospital. She arrived just as Emma was being wheeled into surgery, and now she was still waiting for news._

_A half hour later and she was able to see the blonde; she was on a hospital bed in one of those awful gowns that made her seem more sickly. She was asleep and she looked so peaceful._

_"Is she going to be okay?" Regina asked Emma's primary doctor._

_"Yeah, we stopped the bleeding. We just need to to wake up," he replied._

_"She will wake up, right?"_

_"The_ _anesthesia should wear off in the next 5 minutes."_

_Regina thanked the doctor before he walked away to attend to his other patients. She sat in the seat besides the bed and held Emma's hand; the next 5 minutes felt like hours but Regina would never forget the relief that washed over her when Emma woke up._

_"Hey, beautiful," Emma croaked._

_"You need a new job, Emma. I'm not letting you leave me and Henry in this city alone," Regina said._

_"Hey, Emma. How are you feeling?" Emma said in her best Regina voice. "Oh, I got shot, but I'm good thanks," she added in her normal voice._

_"I'm sorry. How are you dear?"_

_"I hurt, but I'll live."_

_"You need a new job, Emma," Regina said sincerely, "I can't... no, I won't lose you in this damn city."_

_Emma squeezed Regina's hand in her own, "I'm still here, I'm not going anywhere."_

* * *

 When the two year anniversary came around, Regina was opening her own coffee shop in the center of New York. Emma was in the leased as co-owner, but she didn't want to give her day job up just yet... she promised one day she would.

_Opening day was beginning to get on top of Regina... there was so much to do, and only so much Emma could help with seen as she refused to give up her job as a bail-bonds woman. There were still supplies that needed to be delivered, the tables and chairs needed to be put together._

_The day before the opening Regina came home in a particular bad mood because one of the staff hadn't turned up. When she entered the apartment, she slammed the front door and walked straight towards the fridge. She pulled out a bottle of wine and poured the contents into a glass._

_"Starting early, babe?" Emma asked as she walked into the kitchen towel drying her hair._

_Regina gulped down the contents of the glass before replying, "I really needed your help today... but you was off running after a guy who jumped bail," she snapped._

_"Well that is my job," Emma said plainly._

_"Which you need to give up because you keep getting hurt."_

_"I'm fine!"_

_"You've been shot and had a concussion three times in the last two months alone. Not to mention all the other times you've nearly died!"_

_"I refuse to have this argument again!" Emma said, her voice raised._

_"We are because you don't realize how dangerous it is! I don't want to lose you. How many times do I have to say this to you, Swan? I love you and I can't lose you."_

_Emma walked over to where Regina was standing and pulled her flush against her own body, "I'm not going anywhere, okay. I promise. One day I will stop, when the time is right."_

* * *

 Two and a half years had passed by the time they had got married. It was a simple ceremony, but they headed back to Storybrooke so that family and friends were able to attend. That night Regina had a confession for Emma.

_"Emma?" Regina said softly._

_They had both collapsed into bed after a tiring day greeting guests and dancing, neither of them had the energy to make to love one another but they knew they had the rest of their lives for that. Now Regina was cuddled up to Emma, her ear on the blondes chest listening to her heartbeat._

_"Yeah?" Emma replied as she traced randoms shapes on Regina's skin._

_"I want to ask you something, but you have to promise not to laugh or run away."_

_"You married me, I'm allowed to laugh... and why would I want to run away from you._

_Regina maneuvered so she was laying on her side facing Emma, and seconds later the blonde followed suit._

_"Have you ever thought about having more children?"_

_"I was not expecting that," the blonde said. "But no, I never really thought about it."_

_"I always wanted another child," she confessed. "With you it seems right."_

_"If you want another child, then we can have one."_

_Regina pressed her lips against Emma's; a kiss that was so full of love neither of them really had to utter the words 'I love you'._

_"Did you want to carry the baby? That's if we don't adopt."_

_"Emma, there is something I never told you." There was a small pause before Regina gathered the courage to speak the words that so desperately needed to be spoke. "I can't carry children.. I- I drank a potion in the Enchanted Forest to spite my mother."_

_"It's okay," Emma said with a chuckle. "We can try, and if it doesn't work then adoption is always an option."_

* * *

6 months after their wedding and three years since they had left the quaint little town, Regina found herself pregnant despite the potion she had drank in the Enchanted Forest.

_After what she deemed a decent nights sleep, Regina quickly untangled herself from her wife and ran towards the bathroom. She knelt down in front of the porcelain toilet and emptied her stomach contents. Emma was quick to follow Regina to see what the commotion was about, but she knew before she even set foot in the bathroom._

_The blonde sat besides Regina and held her hair back whilst rubbing circles on her back. When she had finished dry heaving, Regina fell back onto Emma._

_"I hate this," Regina whispered._

_The truth was, even though they had tried IVF once it had failed, but the second time seemed promising. Regina had been experiencing the early pregnancy signs; nausea and fatigue were the main two they were told to look out for._

_"We can see the doctor today, remember," Emma said after placing a kiss in the brown locks._

_Two hours later and the couple were sat in the waiting room waiting for their results, but at 11:30 on the dot Regina's name was called. The brunette grabbed Emma's hand and squeezed it, today was a moment of truth for them both. The doctor led the couple into a small room where she sat in a large black chair behind a desk. Emma and Regina sat on the two chairs in front of her._

_"So, we have your results back, Regina," she said as she opened a file._

_Emma was afraid that her hand was going to break with the force that Regina was squeezing it._

_"Congratulations, you're going to have a baby."_

_"Holy shit," Emma said. "Are you serious?"_

_"Yes, we just need to book you in for your scans," she said. She handed a booklet a two pamphlets to the gobsmacked couple, "and these just tell you what to expect during the pregnancy, and what vitamins you need. But if you have any questions, don't hesitate to contact me."_

_Regina was speechless. She was pregnant. She was carrying a baby. Words couldn't express how happy she was. Everything in that one moment was perfect._

* * *

 Eight and a half months later, Emma and Regina were at Henry's teacher-parent conference hearing about how well he had progresses over the semester.

_"Henry has progressed well over the semester," Mrs. Cameron said with a smile, "he's polite in class and is actively involved in all class discussions. His math skills have come a long way, and his writing is one of the best we have had in the school in a while. You should be proud of him."_

_"We -" Regina started to say, but before she could a wave of pain hit her in the lower abdomen and she groaned._

_"Mrs. Swan-Mills?" the teacher said._

_"Regina, are you okay?"_

_Regina tried to convince both women that she was fine, but soon another wave hit and she groaned again. She hadn't told Emma, but she had been feeling small contractions since yesterday evening, but she put them down to Braxton Hicks._

_"Okay, I'm taking you to the home," Emma said. She turned to the teacher, "thank you for your time."_

_Emma called Henry over from where he was talking to his friend; the teen said that he was going to spend the afternoon with her. Before the couple could leave the school something wet trickled down the sides of Regina's legs._

_"E- Emma?" she stuttered._

_"What's wrong, babe?" she asked._

_"I- I think my water just broke."_

_Emma looked down to the floor, and there was a puddles of fluid at Regina's feet. She looked back to Regina and her green eyes met chocolates ones full of worry, the look soon turned to pain when a contraction hit her harder than ever._

_"She can't come yet, Emma, it's not time," Regina panicked between deep breaths._

_Emma lead Regina to the car and they sped towards the hospital, and within 20 minutes Regina was checked into the maternity ward. Luckily Emma kept the hospital bag in the boot of her Bug in case anything like this happened; 'babies aren't the best time keepers' she had told Regina._

_The Sister Allison - the midwife - checked Regina and told her that the contractions she had been feeling since yesterday were in fact not Braxton Hicks, and that she was around 7cm dilated. The next three and half hours consisted of Regina nearly breaking Emma's hand every time she had a contraction and constant checkups from the midwife. Soon the lanky midwife told Regina it was time._

_"Emma! I'm not ready for this!"_

_"You can do this, I'm here and I'm not going anywhere."_

_The Sister guided the brunettes feet into the stirrups and placed a sheet over her legs, "Okay, on your next contraction I'm going to need you to push into your bottom to the count of five, Regina."_

_Regina pushed as hard as she could while groaning at the same time. "I hate this!" she screamed._

_The next 20 minutes the delivery room was filled with words of encouragement from Emma, profanity from Regina and instructions from the midwife. At 5:13 pm their daughter was born; Emma was asked to cut the cord. The midwife wiped the blood and mucus from her body before wrapping her up in a white sheet and handing her over to a sweating Regina._

_"She's beautiful," Emma whispered. "I knew you could do it."_

_Regina's lips caught Emma's in a loving kiss. Finally her family was complete._

_"Alaina Eloise Swan-Mills," Regina said in a sigh._

_"Welcome to the world, baby girl."_

* * *

 "See," Emma said to Alaina, "that's why today is important for your mommies because it lead to you."

They were now all sat on the corner sofa; Emma laid Alaina on her outstretched legs while Regina cuddled up to her two favorite girls.

"Emma, dear. She can't understand you," Regina said as she rested her head on her wife's shoulder.

"And that doesn't stop you, 'gina," Emma laughed.

Regina reached over to the coffee table and picked up the book. Henry had bought it with him when they left Storybrooke and every night the couple read a little to the small girl before she drifted off to sleep. They had already finished the book twice, but it was now a routine no one wanted to miss.

"Shall we read a story, baby?" Regina cooed.

Alaina giggled at Regina and the brunette began reading from the beginning once again. This moment only needed one thing... one person; Henry. But he would be home from school in a few hours and then they could go back to being the perfect family.

**THE END**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The support for this story has been overwhelming and you guys don't realize how much it means to me that you have taken time out of your lives to read this. I've have loved writing every bit of it! I hope you deem the ending good, and now onto finishing my other SQ story. See you all later, and thank you once again.


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